Bar Kokhba revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt^[b] (132–136 AD) was a major uprising by the Jews of Judaea against the Roman Empire, marking the final and most devastating of the Jewish–Roman wars. Led by Simon bar Kokhba, the rebels succeeded in establishing an independent Jewish state that lasted for several years. The revolt was ultimately crushed by the Romans, resulting in the near-depopulation of Judea through large-scale killings, mass enslavement, and the displacement of many Jews from the region.

Bar Kokhba revolt מֶרֶד בַּר כּוֹכְבָא‎
Part of the Jewish–Roman wars
Detail of Simon bar Kokhba from Benno Elkan's Knesset Menorah
Date 132–136 AD (main phase: autumn 132 – summer 135) Location Judaea, Roman Empire Result Decisive Roman victory Massacre and displacement of the Jewish population in Judea Renaming of Judaea to Syria Palaestina Jews banned from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas Suppression of Jewish religious practices by Hadrian Significant increase in the Jewish diaspora Territorial changes Destruction of the rebels' Jewish state by the Roman army
Belligerents
Roman Empire	Jews of Judaea
Commanders and leaders
Hadrian Quintus Tineius Rufus Sextus Julius Severus Gaius Poblicius Marcellus Titus Haterius Nepos Quintus Lollius Urbicus	Simon bar Kokhba † Eleazar of Modi'im † Akiva ben Joseph  Yeshua ben Galgula † Yonatan ben Bai'in Masbelah ben Shimon Eleazar ben Khita Yehuda bar Menashe Shimon ben Matanya
Units involved
Legio III Cyrenaica Legio X Fretensis Legio VI Ferrata Legio III Gallica Legio XXII Deiotariana Legio II Traiana Legio X Gemina Legio IX Hispana (?) Legio V Macedonica (parts) Legio XI Claudia (parts) Legio XII Fulminata (parts) Legio IV Flavia Felix (parts)	Bar Kokhba's army Bar Kokhba's guard Local militias Samaritan youth bands
Strength
2 legions – 20,000 (132–133) 5 legions – 80,000 (133–134) 6–7 full legions, cohorts of 5–6 more, 30–50 auxiliary units – 120,000 (134–135)	200,000–400,000 militiamen 12,000 Bar Kokhba's guard force
Casualties and losses
Legio XXII Deiotariana possibly destroyed[1] Legio IX Hispana possibly disbanded[2][a] Legio X Fretensis sustained heavy casualties[3]	580,000–600,000 killed[4][5]

Resentment toward Roman rule in Judaea and nationalistic aspirations remained high following the destruction of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt in 70 AD. The immediate triggers of the Bar Kokhba revolt included Emperor Hadrian's decision to build Aelia Capitolina—a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter—on the ruins of Jerusalem, extinguishing hopes for the Temple's reconstruction, as well as a possible ban on circumcision, a central Jewish practice. Unlike the earlier revolt, the rebels were well-prepared, using guerrilla tactics and underground hideouts embedded in their villages. Initially, the rebels achieved considerable success, driving Roman forces out of much of the province. Simon bar Kokhba was declared "nasi" (prince) 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," and coinage carried similar slogans, dated according to the years of independence.

The tide turned when Hadrian appointed one of Rome’s most skilled generals, Sextus Julius Severus, to lead the campaign, supported by six full legions, auxiliary units, and reinforcements from up to six additional legions. Hadrian himself also participated in directing operations for a time. The Romans launched a broad offensive across Judea, systematically devastating towns, villages, and the countryside. In 135 AD, the fortified stronghold of Betar, the rebels' last center of resistance, was captured and destroyed, and Simon bar Kokhba was killed, effectively ending the revolt. In its final stages, many sought refuge in natural 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 devastating for the Jewish population of Judaea. Ancient and contemporary sources estimate that hundreds of thousands were killed, while many others were enslaved or exiled. The region of Judea was largely depopulated, and Jewish life shifted to Galilee and the expanding 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 Jerusalem, restricted their entry to one annual visit, and repopulated the city with foreigners.

Background

Main article: Jewish–Roman wars

Further information: Judaea (Roman province) and First Jewish–Roman War § Consequences

The Bar Kokhba revolt was the last of three Jewish revolts against Rome fought within a span of approximately 60 years. It was preceded by the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73) and the Diaspora Revolt (115–117). These revolts were brutally suppressed by Rome, resulting in the destruction of numerous Jewish communities, including Jerusalem, the national and religious center of the Jewish people.^[10] Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed, many others were exiled or sold into slavery, and the status of Jews and Judaism throughout the Roman Empire was significantly diminished.

In 6 CE, Judaea transitioned from a client kingdom of Rome to a directly ruled Roman province.^[11][12][13] For the next six decades, aside from a brief period under another client king, Herod Agrippa I,^[14] the province was governed by successive Roman officials. The Jewish population grew increasingly resentful due to mismanagement, corruption, and the incompetence of these governors. Their rule was often marked by acts of brutality and religious insensitivity, which further inflamed local tensions.^[15][16][17] Escalating tensions emerged from ethnic, religious, and territorial conflicts with neighboring populations,^[18][19] worsened by widening economic inequalities. Meanwhile, memories of the Maccabean revolt and the period of independence under the Hasmoneans fueled Jewish nationalist aspirations for liberation from Roman rule.^[20] In 66 CE, unrest in Caesarea, followed by clashes in Jerusalem, sparked the outbreak of an open Jewish revolt—the First Jewish–Roman War. The rebellion was systematically subdued by the Romans under the command of Vespasian and later his son Titus. Jerusalem was razed, and the Second Temple was destroyed.

Following the war, Judaea underwent administrative reorganization. A senatorial-rank legate was appointed as governor, overseeing the province. Under his command, Legio X Fretensis—which had participated in the war—was permanently stationed in the province, establishing its main base in the ruins of Jerusalem. To further secure the region, the regions of Judea and Idumea were designated as a military zone, administered directly by officers of the legion.^[21] The province's status changed again in the 110s CE when it was placed under a proconsul, a higher-ranking official. Around this time, an additional legion, Legio VI Ferrata, was stationed in the province, with its main base at Legio (Kefar Othnai).^[22] The increased military presence was accompanied by efforts to establish and reinforce a more loyal population in the province, including through the settlement of discharged soldiers.^[23]

In 115 CE, during Trajan's reign, another large-scale Jewish insurrection, known as the Diaspora Revolt, erupted, spreading across Jewish communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia, and continuing until 117. The final stages of this conflict, known as the Kitos War, appear to have led to unrest spilling over into Judaea. Mismanagement of the province in the early 2nd century likely contributed to the conditions that set the stage for the Bar Kokhba revolt, as governors enforcing anti-Jewish policies further destabilized an already volatile region.

Sources

Reconstructing the events of the Bar Kokhba revolt poses a challenge, as the historical sources are limited and fragmentary. Unlike the First Jewish–Roman war, which was chronicled in detail by Flavius Josephus, the Bar Kokhba revolt had no surviving contemporary historian.^[24][25] Historians rely on a limited range of literary sources, each with distinct objectives, levels of reliability, and dates of composition, leaving many crucial questions unresolved.^[25]

Cassius Dio, a Roman statesman and historian of Greek background writing in the early 3rd-century AD,^[26] offers the most detailed surviving Roman account of the revolt, found in Book 69 of his Roman History.^[4][27] The original text, however, survives only through an 11th-century epitome by John Xiphilinus, whose abridgments are generally considered faithful to Dio's language and content.^[26] Dio's account of the revolt presents a military viewpoint and includes descriptions of underground hideouts used by Jewish rebels—though he does not mention Bar Kokhba by name.^[26] He notes the global cohesion of the Jewish population and some level of non-Jewish participation.^[26] His narrative provides valuable insight into the revolt's scale and devastation, including losses sustained by both sides.^[26]

Eusebius, a 4th-century Christian bishop and historian from Caesarea Maritima, offers a Late Antique Christian interpretation of the revolt. Though writing with a theological agenda—depicting Jewish uprisings as divine punishment for the crucifixion of Jesus^[28]—he had access to valuable sources, including the library of Pamphilus, church archives in Aelia Capitolina, the works of earlier Christian writers such as Aristo of Pella and Julius Africanus, and possibly pagan texts.^[29] His account includes key details absent from Dio—whom he likely neither knew nor used as a source^[29]—such as naming Tineius Rufus as the Roman governor, identifying Bar Kokhba (as 'Barchochebas,' interpreted as 'son of a star'), and citing Bethar ('Beththera') as the site of the final siege.^[30] While shaped by a Christian supersessionist worldview,^[31] his geographical proximity, access to now-lost materials, and possible use of Jewish traditions make his writings a significant—if ideologically filtered—source for the revolt.^[30]

The Historia Augusta, a late Roman collection of imperial biographies compiled in the 4th century AD,^[32] devotes only a single sentence to the revolt in its Life of Hadrian, briefly noting one of its possible causes.^[24] This portion of the work is believed to rely on relatively reliable Latin sources from the Severan period (193–235 ), making it roughly contemporary with Dio's account.^[32]

Jewish historical references to the Bar Kokhba revolt are primarily found in rabbinic literature, including the Mishnah, Talmuds, and other works compiled in the subsequent centuries. While these texts were not intended as historical chronicles—most were composed with a focus on Jewish law (halakhah)—they nonetheless contain narrative sections (aggadah) that preserve anecdotes, teachings, legal rulings, and reflections.^[33] These passages, though often shaped by theological and didactic aims, offer valuable insights into the revolt and its broader historical context.^[33] While many texts were written down generations after the revolt and contain legendary elements, modern scholars acknowledge that they preserve genuine historical traditions, especially when corroborated by archaeology and other sources.^[34] Many of the stories associated with the revolt, such as those about Betar's fall, indeed appear in Aggadaic material, particularly in the Babylonian Talmud (e.g., Gittin 55b–58a), Jerusalem Talmud (Taanith iv 8, 68d–69b), and midrashim like Lamentations Rabbah.^[35] These passages provide insight into how the Jewish people experienced and interpreted the events of the time. They include a variety of material—stories, rulings, and anecdotes—that shed light on the revolt and its aftermath.^[33] One of the most distinctive contributions of rabbinic literature is its portrayal of Bar Kokhba: it is the only source to explicitly describe him as a messianic figure and preserves two conflicting accounts of his death.^[36] Rabbinic texts also report Roman executions of Jewish sages and episodes of religious repression following the revolt.^[24] Some accounts present the revolt and its leaders in a sympathetic or even heroic light, though many others offer a more critical or negative evaluation.^[37]

A cluster of papyrus containing Bar Kokhba's orders during the last year of the revolt, found at the Cave of Letters in the Judean desert by Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin

Archaeological discoveries, beginning in 1952, have transformed our understanding of the revolt.^[25] Chief among them are papyri discovered in the Cave of Letters, including legal documents and correspondence between Bar Kokhba and his subordinates.^[24][25] Among roughly 30 surviving texts, three are in Greek, and the rest are in Hebrew and Aramaic.^[38] These documents offer direct insight into the rebels' administration, military organization, religious practices, and internal challenges,^[25][39] though they provide limited information about the military course of the revolt itself.^[39] Additional evidence comes from coins minted by the rebels, which help estimate the revolt's duration and reveal its goals:^[24] the restoration of Jewish independence and the rebuilding of the Temple.^[40]

Causes

The causes of the Bar Kokhba revolt have been debated among historians, with two main ancient sources providing differing explanations.^[41] Cassius Dio attributes the revolt to Jewish anger over Emperor Hadrian's decision to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony, Aelia Capitolina.^[41][31] The Historia Augusta suggests that the immediate trigger for the uprising was a Roman ban on circumcision, a central Jewish practice.^[41] The prevailing scholarly consensus recognizes a combination of these causes in explaining the outbreak of the revolt.^[42]

Establishment of Aelia Capitolina

In 129–130 AD, Hadrian toured the eastern provinces, promoting Hellenistic culture. The region's non-Jewish population honored him with new city names and festivals.^[43] During his visit of Judaea, he decided to rebuild the destroyed Jerusalem as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina,^[44] after his family name (Publius Aelius Hadrianus) and in honor of Capitoline Jupiter.^[45] This decision enraged the Jews, extinguishing their hopes of ever rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple.^[43] The foreign desecration of Jerusalem had previously sparked Jewish revolt in the 160s BCE, when Antiochus IV's spoliation of the Temple led to the Maccabean Revolt.^[46]

The first coin issued at the mint of Aelia Capitolina about 130/132 CE. Reverse: COL[ONIA] AEL[IA] CAPIT[OLINA] COND[ITA] ('The founding of Colonia Aelia Capitolina').

Historians once debated whether Aelia Capitolina's foundation caused the revolt or followed it as punishment. Cassius Dio wrote that Hadrian founded Aelia Capitolina on Jerusalem’s ruins and erected a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. In his account, this caused "a long and serious war, since the Jews objected to having gentiles settled in their city and foreign cults established."^[47][48] Eusebius, however, described the colony's foundation as a punitive measure after the uprising.^[49] He wrote: "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."^[50][31] The debate was settled by the discovery of Aelia Capitolina coins at sites abandoned before the uprising and buried alongside Bar Kokhba coins, indicating that they were already in circulation during the revolt, thus confirming Dio's version that the colony's founding preceded the conflict.^{[51][31][52][c]}

One interpretation involves the visit in 130 of Hadrian to the ruins of the Temple. At first sympathetic towards the Jews, Hadrian promised to rebuild the Temple, but the Jews felt betrayed when they found out that he intended to build a temple dedicated to Jupiter.^[4] A rabbinic version of this story, seemingly set during Hadrian's reign,^[53] suggests that the Romans did plan to rebuild the Temple, but a malevolent Samaritan convinced them to abandon the idea, claiming that the Jews would rebel once their city was restored.^[54][53][d] The reference to a malevolent Samaritan, however, is a common motif in Jewish literature.^[54] this account might reveal the Jewish sense of disappointment due to the Romans not rebuilding the Temple.^[53]

An additional legion, the VI Ferrata, arrived in the province to maintain order. Works on Aelia Capitolina commenced in 131. Consul Quintus Tineius Rufus performed the foundation ceremony which involved ploughing over the designated city limits.^[56] "Ploughing up the Temple",^[57][58][59] seen as a religious offence, turned many Jews against the Roman authorities. The Romans issued a coin inscribed Aelia Capitolina.^[60][61][62]

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.^[63] According to Martin Goodman, Hadrian established the colony as a "final solution for Jewish rebelliousness," aiming to permanently erase the city and prevent future rebellions among Jews in Judaea or in diaspora communities.^[64] 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."^[64]

Ban on circumcision

Another oft-cited cause for the revolt is a possible ban on the Jewish practice of circumcision (Brit milah).^[65] The Historia Augusta claims that Hadrian prohibited the Jews from circumcising their sons (decried as mutilare genitalia,^[66][67] "mutilating the genitals"), and that this edict precipitated the Jewish revolt. The imperial biography states: "in their impetuosity the Jews also began a war, as they had been forbidden to mutilate their genitals."^[68] However, the reliability of this account is questionable—the Historia Augusta was written centuries after the events and is prone to anecdote and error.^[69][70] Scholars have long debated the timing of the ban in relation to the revolt, with some arguing that the ban was introduced during or immediately after the uprising, rather than preceding it.^[71] It is known that in the 140s, and before 155, Antoninus Pius mitigated the ban on circumcision by allowing Jews by birth to circumcise legally, while prohibiting the practice for non-Jews. However, it remains unclear when the original ban was first instituted.^[72]

If the prohibition existed, some scholars suggest Hadrian, as a Hellenist, recognized circumcision as bodily mutilation.^[73] E. Mary Smallwood argues he imposed a universal ban, later relaxed by Antoninus Pius, who is known to have granted Jews an exemption.^[74][75] She cites Talmudic passages implying the ban preceded the revolt, including one where Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus permitted hiding circumcision knives in peril. Other scholars such as Peter Schäfer and Joseph Geiger doubt an antecedent ban, suggesting that Roman laws against genital mutilation were meant to stop the castration of slaves, not Jewish circumcision, and that any prohibition on circumcision may have been imposed after the revolt as retribution.^[76][77][78]

Internal factors

In addition to the immediate causes, broader factors likely contributed to an atmosphere ripe for revolt. One such factor may have been eschatological anticipation: nearly sixty years had passed since the destruction of the Second Temple, and some may have expected divine intervention as the symbolic seventy-year mark approached. This expectation was rooted in the precedent of the Babylonian exile, which lasted seventy years following the destruction of the First Temple and culminated in its rebuilding—fulfilling a biblical prophecy attributed Jeremiah. When redemption failed to materialize, growing frustration may have fueled a readiness to rebel.^[79][80]

Other causes thought to have contributed to the revolt include: changes in administrative law, the widespread presence of legally-privileged Roman citizens, alterations in agricultural practice with a shift from landowning to sharecropping, the impact of a possible period of economic decline, and an upsurge of nationalism, the latter influenced by the Diaspora Revolt.^[42] Economic hardship following the First Jewish Revolt may have also played a role, as many Jews lost their land to Roman veterans and collaborators, creating a dispossessed class that likely became a core source of support for Bar Kokhba.^[81] The charismatic personality of Bar Kokhba himself is also thought to have been a major cause of the revolt.^[82]

Leadership

Main article: Simon bar Kokhba

The revolt was led by bar Kokhba, a charismatic leader whose support was likely driven by his personal qualities and abilities, including his charisma.^[83] In the coinage minted during the revolt, he is referred to by the title nasi, meaning "prince."^[84] According to rabbinic literature, Rabbi Akiva, a leading sage, recognized Bar Kokhba as the messiah. However, this view was challenged by the contemporary rabbi Yohanan ben Torta,^[85] who, according to the Jerusalem Talmud, retorted to Akiva, "Grass will grow on your cheeks, and the Messiah will not yet have come!"^[86][87][88]

Coin showing the revolt leader's name, Simeon bar Kokhba

The name Bar Kokhba does not appear in the Talmud but is found in early ecclesiastical sources.^[89][88] Previously, historians debated whether Bar Kokhba, meaning "son of the star" in Aramaic,^[84] was his original name, with some suggesting that the name Bar Kosiba (meaning "son of disappointment" or "son of lies"^[90] in this interpretation), found in rabbinic texts, was a later, derogatory term.^[85] However, documents discovered in the Judaean Desert in the 1950s revealed that his original name was Simeon ben Kosiba.^[85] The Hebrew or Aramaic^[84] surname ben Kosiba is believed to derive from his place of origin.^[83][e] The title Bar Kokhba was likely bestowed upon him by Rabbi Akiva, based on the "Star Prophecy" found in Numbers 24:17: "A star (kokhav) rises from Jacob."^[85][84]

Seventeen letters discovered in the Judaean Desert offer insight into Bar Kokhba's personality.^[92] The documents portray him as a demanding and involved military leader, personally overseeing matters of discipline and logistics. His uncompromising style is evident in sharp threats and rebukes directed at his subordinate officers.^[93] The letters also reflect a strong sense of religious devotion, including observance of Shabbat and the laws of tithes and offerings.^[93] In one letter, Bar Kokhba instructs his men to procure lulavs (palm branches) and etrogs (citrons) to fulfill the mitzvah of the Four Species during the festival of Sukkot.^[94][93]

Rabbinic literature, reflecting elements of folk memory shaped over the two to three centuries following the revolt, portrays Bar Kokhba as a heroic and fearsome figure of immense strength and severity, whose death could only be brought about by divine intervention.^[95] He is said to have slain large numbers of Roman soldiers by throwing massive catapult stones single-handedly at them.^[96] Rabbinic legend also recounts that he tested his soldiers by requiring them either to sever a finger or to uproot a cedar tree.^[96] However, according to rabbinic traditions, the true strength of the revolt lay not in Bar Kokhba’s physical might, but in the spiritual support of the sages; once that was lost following Bar Kokhba's killing of one of them, the rebellion collapsed.^[97]

Outbreak and strategy

The Bar Kokhba revolt and the establishment of the Bar Kokhba administration likely began in the summer of 132 AD.^[98] Simeon Bar Kokhba's forces waited for Hadrian to leave before launching the uprisings.^[43] Learning from the failures of the First Jewish Revolt, the Jews carefully planned the rebellion.^[99][100] Cassius Dio reports that the insurgents avoided open battle, instead occupying strong natural positions reinforced with underground hiding complexes, allowing them both refuge and concealed movement:

The Jews [...] did not dare try conclusions with the Romans in the open field, but they occupied the advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, in order that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet together unobserved underground; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light.

Jerome also wrote: "And the citizens of Judea came to such distress that they, together with their wives, their children, their gold and their silver, in which they trusted, remained in underground tunnels and deepest caves."^[101][102] Archaeological evidence has confirmed ancient accounts of Jewish preparations for the Bar Kokhba revolt.^[103] Hundreds of underground hideout complexes have been identified across almost every populated area,^[103] with approximately 350 systems mapped within the ruins of 140 Jewish villages as of 2015.^[104] These systems were extensively employed in the Judean Hills, the Judean Desert, and the northern Negev, with smaller concentrations in Galilee, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. Many private houses were outfitted with underground chambers designed to exploit the narrowness of the passages for defensive purposes and ambushes.^[105] The interconnected cave networks served both as refuges for combatants and as shelters for their families.^[106]

A hideout complex at Horvat Burgin

Dio also states that the Jews manufactured their own weapons in preparation for the revolt: "The Jews [...] purposely made of poor quality such weapons as they were called upon to furnish, in order that the Romans might reject them and that they themselves might thus have the use of them." However, there is no archaeological evidence to support Dio's claim that the Jews produced defective weapons. In fact, weapons found at sites controlled by the insurgents are identical to those used by the Romans.^[103]

Betar (alternatively Beitar, Bethar, Bether), a town situated at the edge of a mountain range southwest of Jerusalem,^[9] was chosen as the rebels' headquarters due to its strategic proximity to Jerusalem, abundant springs, and defensible position.^[85] Excavations at the site have revealed fortifications likely built by Bar Kokhba's forces, though determining whether these defenses were constructed at the beginning of the revolt or later in the conflict remains unresolved.^[85]

The Bar Kokhba state

During the first year of the revolt, Bar Kokhba succeeded in establishing a functioning state, and life in Judaea appears to have continued with relative stability. This is evidenced by land lease agreements from the period involving substantial financial transactions.^[107] At the same time, the revolt disrupted Jewish communities beyond Judaea, as reflected in accounts of individuals fleeing from Zoar in Transjordan to Ein Gedi sometime after 132 CE.^[108] The biblical phrase "House of Israel" may have been employed as a designation for the network of communities under Bar Kokhba, as indicated by its appearance in two documents from the time of the revolt and in a post-revolt scroll dated to "Year 4 of the Destruction of the House of Israel" (c. 140 CE).^[109]

Military

Bar Kokhba led a well-organized army structured in a hierarchical system with designated ranks, including a "head of a camp." His letters indicate a clear chain of command, listing figures such as Judah bar Manasse, commander of Kiryath Arabaya, and Johnathan bar Beysayan and Masabala bar Simeon, commanders of Ein Gedi.^[110] These documents also suggest that his forces were composed of devout Jews.^[110] According to rabbinic sources, some 400,000 men were at the disposal of Bar Kokhba at the peak of the rebellion.^[111]

Coinage

A Bar Kokhba tetradrachm overstruck on a denarius. Obverse: the Jewish Temple facade with the rising star. Reverse: A lulav, the text reads: "to the freedom of Jerusalem"

Obverse: Grapes, the text reads: "year 1 to the redemption of Israel". Reverse: a date palm with two branches of dates; "Eleazar the Priest" (in Hebrew) around

The new independent state minted its own coins. From the first year of the revolt, there are silver tetradrachms featuring the Temple on the obverse with the word "Jerusalem." On the reverse, a lulav and etrog are depicted, along with the inscription "Year One of the Redemption of Israel."^[112][40][f] As in the Maccabean Revolt and the First Jewish Revolt, Hebrew underwent a resurgence, its presence on coins and documents reinforcing its role as a symbol of Jewish nationhood and independence.^[114]

Bar Kokhba is depicted on the coins as "Simeon, Prince of Israel." Coins from the first year also feature the inscription "Eleazar the priest," though the identity of this figure remains uncertain and debated.^[112] Some scholars identify him as Eleazar, Bar Kokhba's uncle, who was executed for seeking negotiations with the Romans, according to rabbinic literature.^[115] Regardless, this suggests that Bar Kokhba may have been preparing for the Temple's reconstruction, appointing a High Priest to officiate once it was restored.^[116] The coins suggest that restoring the Temple and its services was indeed a key goal, as they feature the Temple's facade and other related symbols.^[115]

For coins from the second year and undated coins, additional inscriptions appear, including "For the Freedom of Israel" and "For the Freedom of Jerusalem."^[112]

Geographic extent of the revolt

The exact extent of Bar Kokhba's control remains uncertain.^[115] It is widely agreed that the rebels held all of Judea, including the villages of the Judaean Mountains, the Judaean Desert, and northern parts of the Negev Desert.^[117] Evidence from the distribution of Bar Kokhba coinage suggests that rebel-held territory stretched from the Arad–Beersheba region in the south to areas north of modern Ramallah, reaching westward toward the lowlands near Kiryat Gat and Shoham, and eastward to the western shore of the Dead Sea and the southern Jordan Valley.^[100]

Scholars continue to debate whether the revolt extended beyond this core region. Two main schools of thought have emerged: Maximalists argue that rebel control may have extended beyond Judea, incorporating other parts of the province, including Galilee and the Golan, while minimalists limit rebel control to Judea and its immediate surroundings.^[115][118] Whether the rebels captured Jerusalem or resumed sacrificial worship on the Temple Mount remains unclear.^[115]

Jerusalem

Despite the reference to Jerusalem on Bar Kokhba coins, as of early 2000s, archaeological finds, and the lack of revolt coinage found in Jerusalem, supported the view that the revolt did not capture Jerusalem.^[119] In 2020, the fourth Bar Kokhba minted coin and the first inscribed with the word "Jerusalem" was found in Jerusalem Old City excavations.^[120] Despite this discovery, the Israel Antiques Authority still maintained the opinion that Jerusalem was not taken by the rebels, because more than 22,000 coins Bar Kokhba coins had been found outside Jerusalem but only four were found within the city. The Israel Antiques Authority's archaeologists Moran Hagbi and Dr. Joe Uziel speculated "It is possible that a Roman soldier from the Tenth Legion found the coin during one of the battles across the country and brought it to their camp in Jerusalem as a souvenir."^[121]

Galilee

Most scholars agree that, unlike its active role in the First Jewish–Roman War, the Galilee—a region with a Jewish majority^[122]—did not participate in the Bar Kokhba revolt, for reasons that remain unclear.^[122] The archaeological record presents a complex picture. Several underground hideout systems discovered in Galilee closely resemble those associated with Bar Kokhba's forces in Judea. However, a key distinguishing factor is the absence of Bar Kokhba coinage in the Galilean context.^[123] In addition, the survival and continuity of Jewish settlement in Galilee following the suppression of the revolt—unlike in Judea, where Jewish communal life was nearly eradicated—have been interpreted as further indicators that the region either did not join the uprising or was subdued at an early stage.^[124] An alternative hypothesis by Barak Olshanetsky posits that the Galilee may have participated in the early stages of the revolt but withdrew after Bar Kokhba consolidated power around 132–133 CE. He attributes this possible withdrawal to opposition to Bar Kokhba's leadership or ideology.^[122]

Further findings have contributed to scholarly debate. Historian Werner Eck has proposed that a monumental Roman arch unearthed at Tel Shalem in the Upper Jordan Valley, bearing reference to Emperor Hadrian, commemorated a major Roman victory over Bar Kokhba's forces in Galilee.^[125] This view is contested by historian Menahem Mor, who argues instead that the arch marked Hadrian's visit to the region in 130 CE.^[126] He considers a Bar Kokhba-related battle implausible,^[127] citing the lack of revolt coinage and destruction layers, as well as Galilee's geographic and logistical isolation from Judea.^[127] Archaeological excavations at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, near the Sea of Galilee, revealed evidence of destruction that has been dated to the reign of Hadrian, supported by a coin hoard discovered within a destruction layer. This event may correspond either to military activity during the revolt or to earlier unrest associated with the deployment of the Roman Legio VI Ferrata in the region during the 120s CE.^[128][129] Nevertheless, archaeologist Uzi Leibner emphasizes the need for broader excavations before reaching firm conclusions.^[129]

Samaria

A 2015 archaeological survey in Samaria identified some 40 hideout cave systems from the period, some containing Bar Kokhba's minted coins, suggesting that the war raged in Samaria at high intensity.^[104]

Perea

Jews from Peraea, a region in Transjordan, are thought to have taken part in the revolt. This is demonstrated by a destruction layer dating from the early 2nd century at Tel Abu al-Sarbut in the Sukkoth Valley,^[130] and by abandonment deposits from the same period that were discovered at al-Mukhayyat^[131] and Callirrhoe.^[132] There is also evidence for Roman military presence in Perea in the middle of the century, as well as evidence of the settlement of Roman veterans in the area.^[5] This view is supported by a destruction layer in Tel Hesban that dates to 130,^[133] and a decline in settlement from the Early Roman to the Late Roman periods discovered in the survey of the Iraq al-Amir region.^[134] However, it is still unclear whether this decline was caused by the First Jewish–Roman War or the Bar Kokhba revolt.^[5] Historian Glen Bowersock suggested of linking the Nabateans to the revolt, writing "a greater spread of hostilities than had formerly been thought... the extension of the Jewish revolt into northern Transjordan and an additional reason to consider the spread of local support among Safaitic tribes and even at Gerasa."^[135]

Foreign participation

According to Cassius Dio, the Jewish rebels were aided by "many outside nations," who were eager "for gain."^[136] Menachem Mor suggests that non-Jewish populations in the region may have indeed joined the revolt alongside the Jews, though their numbers are difficult to assess. These participants likely came from the lower classes in Hellenistic cities, motivated by a desire to undermine the Roman-backed aristocracy and improve their own socio-economic conditions.^[136]

Suppression of the revolt

After Legio X and Legio VI failed to subdue the rebels, additional reinforcements were dispatched from neighbouring provinces. Gaius Poblicius Marcellus, the legate of Roman Syria, arrived commanding Legio III Gallica, while Titus Haterius Nepos, the governor of Roman Arabia, brought Legio III Cyrenaica.^[137] It is likely that Legio XXII Deiotariana was destroyed during the early stages of the revolt.^[138]

Territory held by the rebels in blue.

Following a series of setbacks, Hadrian called^{[clarification needed]} his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britannia,^[139] and troops were brought from as far as the Danube. In 133/4, Severus landed in Judea with three legions from Europe (including Legio X Gemina and possibly also Legio IX Hispana), cohorts of additional legions and between 30 and 50 auxiliary units.^{[citation needed]} They were joined by Hadrian himself who arrived in the province and commanded the campaign in person, at least for a time, as noted by Cassius Dio,^[43] This is supported by inscriptions describing an Expeditio Iudaica during which the emperor participated.^[140]

The size of the Roman army amassed against the rebels was much larger than that commanded by Titus 60 years earlier – nearly one third of the Roman army took part in the campaign against Bar Kokhba. It is estimated that forces from at least 10 legions participated in Severus' campaign in Judea, including Legio X Fretensis, Legio VI Ferrata, Legio III Gallica, Legio III Cyrenaica, Legio II Traiana Fortis, Legio X Gemina, cohorts of Legio V Macedonica, cohorts of Legio XI Claudia, cohorts of Legio XII Fulminata and cohorts of Legio IV Flavia Felix, along with 30–50 auxiliary units, for a total force of 60,000–120,000 Roman soldiers facing Bar Kokhba's rebels. It is plausible that Legio IX Hispana was among the legions Severus brought with him from Europe, and that its demise occurred during Severus' campaign, as its disappearance during the second century is often attributed to this war.^{[141][unreliable source?]}

Some scholars have suggested that Roman operations during the revolt extended as far north as the Galilee. Werner Eck, for example, has proposed—based on the remains of the arch at Tel Shalem—that a major battle occurred in the area, possibly near Kefar Othnai, close to the nearby legionary base.^[125]

Fall of Betar

Fortification at Betar, Bar Kokhba's last stand

After losing many of their strongholds, Bar Kokhba and the remnants of his army withdrew to the fortress of Betar, which subsequently came under siege in the summer of 135. Legio V Macedonica and Legio XI Claudia are said to have taken part in the siege.^[142]

Bar Kokhba and his followers hastily erected a defensive wall around the settlement, using earth fill and reused structures.^[143] To encircle the stronghold, the Romans constructed a siege wall and established two central camps to the south, likely cutting off access to the spring—the site's main water source.^[144] Slingstones and arrowheads found on the fortification wall attest to the fighting at the site, which the Romans stormed without needing a siege ramp.^[144] Many slingstones were quickly hewn by the rebels and stockpiled atop the wall, but not all were used before the battle ended.^[144]

Weapons found at the ruins of Betar

According to Jewish tradition, Betar was breached and destroyed on Tisha B’Av,^[g] the same date commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.^[145][146] After the conquest and slaughter of the defenders, the site was destroyed and never rebuilt.^[144] The Jerusalem Talmud describes the bloodshed at Betar as immense, stating that the Romans "went about slaughtering them until a horse sunk in blood up to its nostrils, and the blood carried away boulders that weighted forty sela until it went four miles into the sea", even though Betar was "forty miles distant from the sea."^[147][148]

Conclusion

Betar's fall effectively marked the end of the Roman campaign in Judea's hill country, though the war continued as Roman forces pursued remaining rebels in other regions.^[100] According to Lamentations Rabbah, Hadrian established three guard posts–in Hammat, Bethlehem, and Kefar Lekitaya—to capture Jewish rebels attempting to flee. He dispatched heralds announcing that Jews in hiding should come out to receive a reward from the emperor. Those who complied were surrounded and killed in the Valley of Beit Rimmon.^{[149][150][h]} According to scholar William Horbury, these guard posts probably marked the boundary of the area surrounding Jerusalem from which Jews were now excluded.^[151]

In the later phases of the revolt, many Jews sought refuge in caves, most of them located on high, nearly inaccessible cliffs in Israel's Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. These were primarily large natural caverns with minimal man-made modifications.^[152][102] Drawing lessons from the First Jewish–Roman War, the rebels believed that hiding in these isolated shelters offered a better chance of survival than engaging in open battles or defending settlements. However, they underestimated the Romans' resolve, as Roman forces ultimately surrounded and blockaded the caves in their campaign for total suppression that continued for months after the fall of Betar.^[100] Some refuge caves show evidence of survivors, while others contain skeletal remains and embedded arrowheads, suggesting that some refugees died from hunger, thirst, or Roman attacks.^[100] Some caves appear to have continued to serve as places of refuge even after the war ended, during the period of post-revolt persecution.^[153]

House keys taken by refugees to the Cave of the Letters, a refuge cave in the Judaean Desert, hoping to return home

Archaeological and textual evidence suggest that refugees from various regions of Judea fled to refuge caves during this period. Refugees from Ein Gedi dispersed among multiple sites: small groups fled to the Har Yishai Cave and the Cave of the Pool in Nahal David, while larger groups sought refuge in Nahal Hever, which would later yield some of the most significant archaeological discoveries.^[154] Caves north of Ein Gedi such as Salvadora, the Cave of the Figs, and the Caves of the Spear also likely received residents from the area.^[154] From the Jericho region, inhabitants fled to the caves of Ketef Jericho, while people from Archelais or Phasaelis, and possibly the Jewish toparchy of Aqraba, escaped to Wadi er-Rashash and 'Araq en-Na'asaneh in Wadi Daliyeh.^[154] Refugees from the Herodium area likely sheltered in the el-Masia Cave or Wadi Murabba'at, while those from the southern Hebron Hills appear to have reached the Cave of the Tetradrachm in Nahal Hever, as well as caves in Nahal Ze'elim and Nahal Harduf.^[154]

Historians disagree on the duration of the Roman campaign following the fall of Betar. While some claim further resistance was broken quickly, others argue that pockets of Jewish rebels continued to hide with their families into the winter months of late 135 and possibly even spring 136. By early 136 however, it is clear that the revolt was defeated.^[155] According to archaeologist Boaz Zissu, the conflict continued at least into January 136.^[100] The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 93b) says that Bar Kokhba reigned for a mere two and a half years.

Consequences

Destruction and extermination

The revolt had catastrophic consequences for the Jewish population in Judaea, resulting in massive loss of life, widespread enslavement, and extensive forced displacement. The scale of devastation surpassed even that of the First Jewish–Roman War, leaving Judea proper in a state of desolation.^{[156][157][158]} Shimeon Applebaum estimates that about two-thirds of Judaea's Jewish population perished in the revolt.^[159] Some scholars characterize these consequences as an act of genocide.^[156][160]

Describing the devastating consequences of the revolt, several decades after its suppression, the Roman historian Cassius Dio (c. 155–235) wrote: "50 of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out, Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate."^[161][5] While several scholars, such as Peter Schäfer,^[162] have argued that Dio's figures are exaggerations, later estimates suggest that the numbers may be accurate. In 2003, Cotton described Dio's figures as highly plausible, given accurate Roman census declarations.^[163] In 2021, an ethno-archaeological comparative analysis by Dvir Raviv and Chaim Ben David also supported the accuracy of Dio's figures, concluding that his data represent a "reliable account, which he based on contemporaneous documentation."^[5][164]

Archaeological evidence indicates that many sites in Judea suffered damage, destruction, or abandonment,^[165] to the extent that Jewish settlement in Judea was almost completely eradicated by the revolt's end.^[5] Literature from the Tannaim, early rabbinic scholars, reflects the devastation, with recurring expressions such as "Who sees the towns of Judaea in their destruction..." and "When Judaea was destroyed, may it soon be rebuilt."^[166] To date, no site in the region has revealed a continuous occupation layer throughout the 2nd century AD.^[165][167] The findings show clear signs of devastation or depopulation within the first few decades of the century, followed by a period of abandonment.^[165][5] When some of these former Jewish settlements were reoccupied in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, the new inhabitants were typically non-Jews, as reflected in their distinct material culture, which differed significantly from that of the earlier Jewish population.^[165]

Expulsion and enslavement

Expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem during the reign of Hadrian. A miniature from the 15th-century manuscript "Histoire des Empereurs".

Jewish survivors faced harsh punitive measures from the Romans, who often used social engineering to stabilize conflict zones.^[168] In the aftermath of the war, Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and a broad surrounding area, encompassing nearly the entire traditional district of Judea.^[169][i] The Romans proceeded with the construction of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem and barred Jews from entering, except once a year on the day of Tisha B'Av.^[172] According to Jerome, Hadrian "commanded that by a legal decree and ordinances the whole nation should be absolutely prevented from entering from thenceforth even the district round Jerusalem, so that it could not even see from a distance its ancestral home." Similarly, Jerome writes that Jews were only allowed to visit the city to mourn its ruins, paying for the privilege.^[173]

Eusebius writes: "[...] all the families of the Jewish nation have suffered pain worthy of wailing and lamentation because God's hand has struck them, delivering their mother-city over to strange nations, laying their Temple low, and driving them from their country, to serve their enemies in a hostile land."^[174] Jerome provides a similar account: "in Hadrian's reign, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the Jewish nation was massacred in large groups at a time, with the result that they were even expelled from the borders of Judaea."^[175] Dialogue with Trypho, a 2nd-century Christian apologetic text by Justin Martyr, presents a theological dialogue with a Jewish fugitive from the Bar Kokhba revolt, then residing in Corinth, Greece.^[176]

Roman policy also involved the mass enslavement and deportation of Jewish captives, a practice also observed after the revolt of the Salassi (25 BC), the wars with the Raeti (15 BC), and the Pannonian War (c. 12 BC).^[168] William V. Harris estimates that more than 100,000 Jews were enslaved.^[177] The slave market was reportedly flooded with Jewish captives, who were sold into slavery and dispersed across the empire,^[178] significantly expanding the Jewish diaspora.^[179] The 7th-century Chronicon Paschale, drawing on earlier sources, states that Hadrian sold Jewish captives "for the price of a daily portion of food for a horse."^[168] Jerome reports that following the war, "innumerable people of diverse ages and both sexes were sold at the marketplace of Terebinthus," adding that "For this reason it is an accursed thing among the Jews to visit this acclaimed marketplace".^[180] In another work, he notes that thousands were sold there.^[168] Those not sold were transported to Gaza for auction, while many others were relocated to Egypt and other regions.^[179] Jerome also mentions Jewish captives settled by Hadrian in the Cimmerian Bosporus.^[181][182] The suppression of the revolt and the ensuing harsh conditions led to a large influx of refugees, some of whom settled in Babylonia, contributing to its spiritual growth in the following centuries.^[183]

Religious suppression and execution of sages

Following the revolt, Hadrian implemented a series of harsh religious decrees aimed at dismantling Jewish nationalism in Judaea,^{[184][167][j]} the first such measures since the decrees of Antiochus IV in the 160s BC.^[186] These included the outlawing of Torah study, the Hebrew calendar, and other core expressions of Jewish religious life. Jewish scholars were executed, and sacred texts were publicly burned. Hadrian further desecrated the ruins of the Temple by erecting statues of Jupiter and himself on the site. These measures remained in force until his death in 138 AD, after which conditions eased somewhat,^[167][187] though Jews continued to be banned from entering Jerusalem, with the sole exception of visits on Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning for the Temple's destruction.^[188]

This period of repression left a profound impact on rabbinic memory, later referred to in tradition as a time of shemad (שְׁמָד‎), meaning "destruction" or "desolation."^[158] Rabbinic texts attach a curse to Hadrian's name—"May his bones rot!".^[189] The Tosefta states that Rabbi Ishmael, a 2nd-century sage, likened the decrees to a second destruction, describing them as an effort to "uproot the Torah" from among the Jews.^[190][191] The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, a midrashic work, presents the edicts:

R. Nathan says: Of them that love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:6) – This refers to those who dwell in the land of Israel and risk their lives for the sake of the commandments: "Why are you being led out to be decapitated?" "Because I circumcised my son to be an Israelite." "Why are you being led out to be burnt?" "Because I read the Torah". "Why are you being led out to be crucified?" "Because I ate unleavened bread". "Why are you getting a hundred lashes?" "Because I performed the ceremony of the lulav".^[192]

The Jewish response included both covert observance and open defiance, with some choosing martyrdom—a pattern that would reappear in later episodes of Jewish history.^[193] According to rabbinic literature, Rabbi Akiva, one of the most revered figures in Jewish tradition, was arrested for studying the Torah and flayed with iron combs while reciting the Shema, Judaism's central declaration of faith.^[194][195] Rabbi Judah ben Baba was executed after ordaining new rabbis in secret,^[196][195] while Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai reportedly went into hiding in a cave with his son for several years to escape execution.^[189] These events are remembered not only in halakhic literature but also in midrashic texts and liturgical poetry, particularly in the stories of the Ten Martyrs, which became emblematic of Jewish martyrdom and resistance to religious persecution.^[185]

According to a rabbinic midrash, the Romans executed eight leading members of the Sanhedrin (the list of Ten Martyrs includes two earlier rabbis): Rabbi Akiva; Haninah ben Teradion; the interpreter of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Huspith; Eleazar ben Shammua; Hanina ben Hakinai; Jeshbab the Scribe; Judah ben Dama; and Judah ben Bava. The date of Akiva's execution is disputed, some dating it to the beginning of the revolt based on the midrash, while others link it to final phases. The rabbinic account describes agonizing tortures: Akiva was flayed with iron combs, Ishmael had the skin of his head pulled off slowly, and Haninah was burned at a stake, with wet wool held by a Torah scroll wrapped around his body to prolong his death.

Confiscation of lands and resettlement

Roman inscription found in Battir mentioning Legio V and Legio XI

Following the revolt, the Romans appear to have confiscated land that had either reverted to Jewish control during the inter-revolt period or had been appropriated by the Bar Kokhba state.^[197] This policy, echoing measures taken by Vespasian after the First Revolt, is suggested by Eusebius' reference to the "enslavement" of Jewish territory in the uprising's aftermath.^[198][197] Rabbinic literature also refers to "Hadrian's vineyard," a vineyard in Galilee said to stretch from Tiberias to Sepphoris, its boundaries marked by the bodies of Jews killed at Betar.^[199][197] E. Mary Smallwood suggests that this story may symbolize widespread land confiscations and the establishment of Roman estates in the region following the revolt.^[197]

Artistic, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence from post-revolt Judea indicates that the Roman authorities resettled the region with a diverse population. This included army veterans and immigrants from the western parts of the empire, who settled in Aelia Capitolina and its surroundings, administrative centers, and along main roads. Additionally, immigrants from the coastal plain and neighboring provinces such as Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia settled in the Judean countryside.^{[200][201][202]} This pagan population later gradually adopted Christianity, contributing to its rise in the area during late antiquity.^[203] One of the primary groups that benefited from the Jewish decline was the Samaritans. Capitalizing on the depopulation of Jewish areas, they expanded from Samaria into northern Judea, the coastal plain, and the Beit She'an Valley. This is reflected in a saying attributed to Abbahu in the Jerusalem Talmud, according to which thirteen towns were settled by the Samaritans during the period of anti-Jewish persecutions.^{[204][205][k]}

In the vicinity of Jerusalem, villages were depopulated, and arable land owned by Jews was confiscated. In the following centuries, the lack of an alternative population to fill the empty villages led Roman and later Byzantine authorities to seek a different approach to benefit the nobles, and ultimately the church, by constructing estate farms and monasteries on the empty village lands.^[207] The Roman legionary tomb at Manahat, the ruins of Roman villas at Ein Yael, Khirbet er-Ras, Rephaim Valley and Ramat Rachel, and the Tenth Legion's kilns discovered near Giv'at Ram are all indications that the rural area surrounding Aelia Capitolina underwent a romanization process, with Roman citizens and Roman veterans settling in the area during the Late Roman period.^[208] Indications for the settlement of Roman veterans in other parts of Judea proper includes a magnificent marble sarcophagus showing Dionysus discovered in Turmus Ayya, Latin-inscribed stone discovered at Khirbet Tibnah, a statue of Minerva discovered at Khirbat al-Mafjar, a tomb of a centurion at Beit Nattif and a Roman mansion with western elements discovered at Arak el-Khala, near Beit Guvrin.^[200]

In Perea, a Roman military presence in the middle of the 2nd century suggests that the Jews there were also victims of the revolt. The name of a Roman veteran from the village of Meason in Perea appears on a papyrus that was signed in Caesarea in 151, implying that lands there had been expropriated and given to Roman settlers. A building inscription of the Sixth Legion from the 2nd century was discovered at as-Salt, which is identified as Gadara, one of the principal Jewish settlements in Perea, and provides more proof of the Roman military presence there.^[5]

Renaming of Judaea to Syria Palaestina

A further and more enduring punishment was implemented by the Romans following the revolt.^[167] In an effort to erase the memory of Judea and Ancient Israel, the province of Judaea—whose name carried a clear ethnic association with the Jews, being derived from the Latin Iudaei^[209]—was officially renamed Syria Palaestina.^{[210][211][135]} This act was intended to sever the region's historical association with the Jewish people.^[212][210] Although the Romans often renamed provinces, this instance is notable as the only recorded case in which a province's name was changed specifically in response to a rebellion—a measure not taken after revolts in provinces such as Britannia or Germania.^[213][209] Historian Seth Schwartz writes that the name was intended to "celebrate the de-Judaization of the province."^[169] Historian Werner Eck rejects the possibility that the new name reflected demographic changes following the reduction of the Jewish population—noting that a similar case in the history of Pannonia did not lead to a name change—and argues instead that it was exceptionally intended as a punishment directed against the Jews.^[209]

Jewish continuity and the rise of Galilee

While the Jewish presence in the region declined significantly following the revolt,^[214] a smaller yet continuous population remained. Galilee—less affected by the war^[166]—emerged as the new demographic and religious center of Jewish life.^{[158][215][216]} This period saw renewed Jewish migration to the area, which had already experienced a similar influx after the First Jewish–Roman War.^[217] In the following centuries, Galilee became a major center of Jewish leadership and cultural activity, where foundational texts such as the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE.^[218]

Galilee in late antiquity

Rabbinic literature describes how, when persecution eased, scholars gathered in the Beth Rimon Valley in Galilee, and Usha became a seat of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin later relocated to other cities, including Beth She'arim and Sepphoris, before eventually settling in Tiberias as its main center.^[219] Some Judean survivors resettled in Galilee and coastal cities,^[164][220] with some rabbinical families gathering in Sepphoris.^[220] Jewish communities also persisted on the periphery of Judea, in places such as Lod,^[158] Eleutheropolis, Ein Gedi, and the southern Hebron Hills,^[153] as well as on the coastal plain (including Caesarea), Beit She'an, and the Golan Heights.^[221][222]

Roman losses

Bust of Hadrian found near Beit She'an

Roman casualties were heavy; Legio X Fretensis sustained heavy casualties during the revolt,^[3] and Legio XXII Deiotariana was disbanded following the revolt, perhaps because of serious losses.^[223] Cassius Dio notes that "Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war," so much that Hadrian, in reporting to the Roman Senate, omitted the customary greeting: "I and the army are in health,"^[224] — an admission that things were not entirely well. Some argue that the exceptional number of preserved Roman veteran diplomas from the late 150s and 160s indicate an unprecedented conscription across the Roman Empire to replenish heavy losses within military legions and auxiliary units between 133 and 135, corresponding to the revolt.^[225]

Some historians argue that Legio IX Hispana's disbandment in the mid-2nd century could have also been a result of this war.^[141] Previously it had generally been accepted that the Ninth disappeared around 108, possibly suffering its demise in Britain, according to German historian Theodor Mommsen; but archaeological findings in 2015 from Nijmegen dated to 121 contain the known inscriptions of two senior officers who were deputy commanders of the Ninth in 120 and lived on for several decades to lead distinguished public careers. It was concluded that the legion was disbanded between 120 and 197, either as a result of fighting the Bar Kokhba revolt, or in Cappadocia (161), or at the Danube (162).^{[226][unreliable source?]}

Philosophical, cultural and religious consequences

The Roman suppression of the revolt led to a lasting internalization of imperial dominance among Jews, with political expression adapting to the permanence of Roman rule.^[158] Rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious and conservative, with Jewish belief in the messiah becoming abstracted and spiritualized.^{[citation needed]} Doron Mendels suggested that after the revolt, Jewish nationalism in its activist form—meaning large-scale, organized efforts to establish a Jewish state—ceased. However, a passive nationalist sentiment persisted; in rabbinic circles, the aspiration for Jewish sovereignty remained alive, but did not lead to another full-scale revolt or political military movement.^[227] David Goodblatt argued that Jewish nationalism did not fall after the revolt, only its political and activist expressions ceased with the loss of Jewish statehood. He noted that Jewish national identity persisted through culture, law, language and religious traditions, even in the absence of a state. While institutions like the Temple, kingship and territorial control declined, they survived in Jewish thought, messianic hopes, and communal memory.^[228]

Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Christians were killed and suffered "all kinds of persecutions" at the hands of rebel Jews when they refused to help Bar Kokhba against the Roman troops.^{[229][230][231]} Although Christians regarded Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba,^[232] they were barred from Jerusalem along with the Jews.^[233] The outcome of the Bar Kokhba revolt reinforced the Christian interpretation that the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD signified divine punishment, making it a key argument in anti-Jewish polemics.^[234] For Eusebius, the suppression of the revolt marked the definitive end of Jewish Christianity. According to his account, from this point, the line of circumcised bishops of Hebrew ancestry leading the Jerusalem church ended,^[235] and leadership passed to gentile bishops, as Jerusalem became part of the Church's universal mission.^[236] For Justin Martyr, the Jewish defeat in the revolt was a divine confirmation that Jerusalem's devastation was both valid and final. He saw the revolt's outcome as evidence that the covenant between God and the Jewish people, and the Temple cult, had been brought to a definite end.^[237] In Dialogue with Trypho, written after the revolt, he presented Jewish circumcision not merely as obsolete, but as a mark of divine punishment. He argues it was instituted that Jews would "suffer that which you now justly suffer," associating the practice with the devastation of their land, the burning of cities, the loss of produce to foreigners, and, in reference to Hadrian's decree, the prohibition against entering Jerusalem.^[238]

Following the revolt, the Hebrew language largely disappeared from daily use.^[239] Prior to the uprising, Hebrew was still spoken as a living language by a significant portion of the Jewish population in the region of Judea. However, by the 3rd century CE, sages were no longer able to identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah. Only a small number of sages in the southern regions continued to speak Hebrew. The Jerusalem Talmud and classical midrashic literature—where most narratives appear in Aramaic—indicate that Hebrew had become primarily a literary and formal language.^[239]

Later Jewish–Roman relations

Main article: History of the Jews in the Roman Empire

Relations between the Jews in the region and the Roman Empire remained complicated. These relations reached a peak under the Severan dynasty (193–235 AD).^[240] During much of this period, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, who was regarded as a descendant of David, served as the patriarch of the Jewish community. This era was marked by economic and political prosperity.^[241] Rabbinic literature records cordial relations between the patriarch's household and the imperial family, with evidence of synagogues dedicated to members of the dynasty.^[240] It was also during this time that the Mishnah was redacted.^[242]

However, the situation later worsened. The third century was marked by instability, anarchy, and economic hardship.^[243] Following this, the rise of Christianity, officially recognized by Constantine in 313, shifted Jewish–Roman relations and led to anti-Jewish imperial legislation.^[244] In 351–352, the Jews of Galilee launched another revolt, provoking severe retribution.^[245] Relations briefly improved under Emperor Julian, who, unlike his predecessors, opposed Christianity. In 363, he ordered the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as part of his religious pluralism effort. However, Julian was killed the same year, and the project failed.^[246] By the early 5th century, the patriarchate was abolished, leading to the loss of centralized Jewish leadership.^[247] The period also saw attacks on Jews and synagogue burnings by fanatic monks such as Barsauma and his followers.^[248] In 438, when the Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site, the heads of the community in Galilee issued a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews" which began: "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come!" However, the Christian population of the city saw this as a threat to their primacy, and a riot erupted which chased Jews from the city.^[249][250]

During the 5th and 6th centuries, a series of Samaritan revolts broke out across Palaestina Prima. Especially violent were the third and the fourth revolts, which resulted in near annihilation of the Samaritan community.^[251] It is likely that the Samaritan revolt of 556 was joined by the Jewish community, which had also suffered brutal suppression of their religion under Emperor Justinian.^{[252][253][254]} In the belief of restoration to come, in the early 7th century the Jews made an alliance with the Sasanian Empire, joining the invasion of Palaestina Prima in 614 to overwhelm the Byzantine garrison, and briefly gained autonomy in Jerusalem.^[255] This autonomy ended with the persecution of Jews, their expulsion from Jerusalem, and the killing or fleeing of many.^[248]

Archaeology

Destroyed Jewish villages and fortresses

Several archaeological excavations have been performed during the 20th and 21st centuries in ruins of Roman-period Jewish villages across Judea and Samaria, as well in the Roman-dominated cities on the coastal plain. Most of the villages in Judea's larger region show signs of devastation or abandonment that dates to the Bar Kokhba revolt. Buildings and underground installations carved out beneath or close to towns, such as hiding complexes, burial caves, storage facilities, and field towers, have both been found to have destruction layers and abandonment deposits. Furthermore, there is a gap in settlement above these levels. Fragmentary material from Transjordan and the Galilee adds to the discoveries from Judea.^[5]

The ruins of Horvat 'Ethri display a destruction layer dating to the revolt, along with a mass grave containing the remains of 15 individuals, including one with signs of beheading^[256]

Excavations at archaeological sites such as Horvat Ethri and Khirbet Badd ‘Isa have demonstrated that these Jewish villages were destroyed in the revolt, and were only resettled by pagan populations in the 3rd century.^{[257][258][259]} Discoveries from towns like Gophna, known to be Jewish before the revolt, demonstrate that pagans of Hellenistic and Roman culture lived there during the Late Roman period.^[260]

Herodium was excavated by archaeologist Ehud Netzer in the 1980s, publishing results in 1985. According to findings, during the later Bar-Kokhba revolt, complex tunnels were dug, connecting the earlier cisterns with one another.^[261] These led from the Herodium fortress to hidden openings, which allowed surprise attacks on Roman units besieging the hill.

The ruins of Betar have yielded archaeological evidence of the Roman siege, including fortifications and weaponry.^[144] Now known in Arabic as Khirbet el-Yehud ("the ruins of the Jews"), the site is located near the Palestinian Arab village of Bittir, which preserves the ancient name, and adjacent to the modern Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit.^[85] To date, the site has not undergone a systematic excavation, apart from limited work carried out by archaeologist David Ussishkin in 1984,^[262][263] prompted by antiquities looting and modern construction at the site.^[144] His investigations revealed sections of a hastily constructed fortification wall and a semi-circular buttress—features interpreted as evidence of urgent military preparations.^[263] Finds from the site included slingstones, arrowheads of a type known from Bar Kokhba-era contexts in the Judaean Desert, and pottery dating to the first and second centuries CE. However, no post-revolt occupation layers were identified, suggesting that the site was abandoned following the Roman assault.^[264] Two Roman siege camps were identified to the south of the site; the larger of the two was almost entirely destroyed by construction beginning in the 1960s.^[265] A concentration of 22 slingstones was found in situ on a tower roof, and the crude quality of their manufacture suggests they were quickly produced during the siege.^[144] Additionally, a stone inscription bearing Latin characters, discovered near the site, indicates that the Fifth Macedonian Legion and the Eleventh Claudian Legion participated in the siege.^[266]

Hiding complexes

Main article: Bar Kokhba hiding complexes

Entrance to a hiding complex dating from the revolt which was discovered in Hurvat Midras

The Bar Kokhba revolt has been better understood thanks to the discovery of artificially carved hiding complexes under many sites across Judea, and on a lesser level in the Lower Galilee. Their discovery is consistent with Cassius Dio's writings, which reported that the rebels used underground networks as part of their tactics to avoid direct confrontations with the Romans. Many were hewn in earlier times and were utilized by rebels during the revolt as indicated by the usage of the coinage produced by Bar Kokhba and other archaeological findings.^[152][267]

Hiding complexes were found at more than 130 archaeological sites in Judea; most of them in the Judaean Lowlands, but also in the Judaean Mountains, and some also in Galilee.^[152][268] Examples include: Hurvat Midras, Tel Goded, Maresha, Aboud and others.

Refuge caves and cliff shelters

Main article: Bar Kokhba refuge caves

During the final phase of the Bar Kokhba revolt, many Jewish rebels and civilians sought refuge in natural caves. More than 30 such caves have been identified, extending geographically from Wadi er-Rashash and Naḥal Shillo in the north to Naḥal Qina and Yahel, south of Arad, and distributed across three primary north–south zones: the eastern escarpment near the Dead Sea, the central desert plateau and ravines, and the western Judaean Mountains.^[100][269] Excavations have uncovered a wide range of materials, well preserved due to the dry climate of the area,^[100] including written records that shed light on the revolt as well as the period's language, culture, and legal practices.^[84] Personal belongings such as property deeds, household keys, and luxury items suggest the refugees intended to return. Additional finds—pottery, textiles, glassware, wooden artifacts, leather sandals, and food remains—offer insight into aspects of daily life. In some cases, Roman forces besieged the caves by blocking escape routes from above, leading to the starvation of those trapped inside.^[270]

The Cave of Letters, where several documents of the period, including letters from Simeon bar Kokhba to the people of Ein Gedi, were discovered

The caves found at Nahal Hever, a canyon near the Dead Sea, are particularly notable for archaeological findings found there.^[212] Among them is the so-called Cave of Horrors, named for the dozens of human skeletons discovered within, including children and infants—some of whose remains still preserved traces of hair, skin, and tendons.^[271][272] The cave also yielded Bar Kokhba revolt coinage,^[273][274] Hebrew ostraca bearing personal names,^[275][276] and manuscript fragments in Hebrew and Greek, including portions of the Minor Prophets.^[277][276] The nearby Cave of Letters emerged as one of the most important archaeological discoveries related to the revolt. Excavated in 1960–1961, it contained a trove of documents often dubbed the "Bar Kokhba archive,"^[278] including personal correspondence and administrative records from Bar Kokhba and his followers. These texts, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, have been interpreted as evidence of a multilingual population or the possible presence of non-Jewish auxiliaries among the rebel forces.^[279] Among the most poignant finds was the archive of Babatha, a Jewish woman from the region south of the Dead Sea. Her cache of 35 legal documents, including a marriage contract, property deeds, and guardianship papers, suggests she fled with hopes of survival but likely died in the cave.^[212]

A scroll found in the cave, part of the Babatha archive

Another significant refuge cave linked to the Bar Kokhba revolt is the Cave of the Swords, located near the Ein Gedi oasis. During excavations in 2023, archaeologists uncovered a hidden cache of Roman weaponry, including a pilum head and four iron swords, three of them still preserved in wooden scabbards with metal and leather fittings.^[280] The typology of the swords, including Pompeii-type spathae and a ring-pommel sword, suggests a 2nd-century CE context. A bronze Bar Kokhba coin inscribed "for the freedom of Jerusalem," found at the cave's entrance, supports dating the cache to the revolt. Scholars believe the weapons were likely captured from Roman soldiers and hidden by Jewish rebels for future use.^[281]

Coinage

Main article: Bar Kokhba revolt coinage

As of 2023, 24 coins from the Bar Kokhba revolt have been found outside Judaea, in European provinces such as Britannia, Pannonia, Dacia, and Dalmatia. Most were discovered near Roman legionary and auxiliary camps, though not strictly in military contexts, and may have been brought by Roman soldiers involved in the revolt as souvenirs or by Jewish captives, slaves, or migrants who reached these areas afterward.^{[282][283][284]}

Bar Kokhba coins have been discovered in hoards throughout Judea, reflecting a phenomenon also described in a baraita (an early rabbinic tradition preserved outside the Mishnah). Jews who hid these coins were later unable to recover them due to the presence of Roman garrisons, their deaths during the revolt's suppression, or the widespread destruction that obscured the hiding places. Over thirty such hoards have been found, more than from any other decade.^[285]

Tel Shalem triumphal arc and Hadrian's statue

Schematic reconstruction of the Arch of Hadrian in Tel Shalem, celebrating the Jewish defeat

Archaeological discoveries at Tel Shalem, a site in the upper Jordan Valley near Scythopolis and Pella, have led researchers to identify it as a Roman fort active around the time of the revolt, possibly involved in it.^[286] The remains include a cuirassed bronze statue of Hadrian and a Latin inscription referencing a detachment of Legio VI Ferrata, suggesting the legion was stationed there during that period.^[287] In 1977, a monumental Latin inscription dedicated to Hadrian was found reused in nearby Late Antique graves; Its scale, epigraphic features, and layout suggest it once belonged to a triumphal arch.^[126][288] Gideon Foerster and Werner Eck have proposed that the inscription came from an arch erected by the Senate following the Bar Kokhba revolt, with its location—well north of the revolt's epicenter in Betar—possibly reflecting a Roman victory in the Galilee region.^[289][288] However, this interpretation is disputed, and alternative explanations have been proposed.^[126][l]

Legacy

In Rabbinic Judaism

Main article: Rabbinic stance on Bar Kokhba revolt

In rabbinic tradition, shaped over the two to three centuries following the revolt, Bar Kokhba was remembered as a figure whose downfall was attributed to pride and the loss of divine favor.^[290] While legends preserved his image as a man of superhuman strength, they emphasized that the true foundation of the revolt's power was the spiritual support of the sages.^[290] His death, and the revolt's failure as a whole, were framed within a moral structure of sin and punishment, rooted in arrogance and comparable to the concept of hybris in Greek thought.^[290]

Talmudic tradition attributes Betar's fall to a Samaritan who acted as a fifth column and sowed discord between Bar Kokhba and his maternal uncle, Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im. Bar Kokhba suspected Eleazar of collaborating with the enemy and killed him with a single kick. This act forfeited divine protection, and shortly thereafter, Betar was captured and Bar Kokhba was killed.^[291][96] According to Lamentations Rabbah, when Bar Kokhba's body was shown to Hadrian, the emperor ordered that the rest of the body be brought forward. It was discovered with a snake coiled around his neck, leading Hadrian to state: "If his God had not slain him, who could have overcome him?"^[292][146] According to another rabbinic legend, found in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, Bar Kokhba was executed by the sages after failing to meet the messianic expectation of judging "by scent" as described in Isaiah 11:3–4,^[36][293] however, this account is generally regarded by scholars as legendary rather than historical.^[293]

The disastrous end of the revolt occasioned major changes in Jewish religious thought. Jewish messianism was abstracted and spiritualized, and rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious. The Talmud, for instance, refers to Bar Kokhba as "Ben-Kusiba", a derogatory term used to indicate that he was a false Messiah. The deeply ambivalent rabbinical position regarding Messianism, as expressed most famously in Maimonides' "Epistle to Yemen," would seem to have its origins in the attempt to deal with the trauma of a failed Messianic uprising.^[294]

The fast day of Tisha B'Av, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples—as reflected in a Tannaitic tradition attributed to Rabbi Akiva identifying both events as occurring on this date—was later expanded in the Mishnah to include tragedies from the Bar Kokhba revolt: "Beitar was captured and the city (Jerusalem) was ploughed."^[295][296] Another passage in the Mishnah presents the three Jewish revolts as a sequence of national defeats, each leading to added mourning practices in the context of weddings; it states that "in the final war, they forbade brides to ride in a litter inside the city."^[297][296]

Two Sephardic Jewish families, Rodriguez and Gradis, are traditionally said to have emigrated from Judaea to the Iberian Peninsula following the Bar Kokhba revolt, settling first in Portugal and later moving to Spain.^[298]

In Zionism and modern Israel

To Zionists, the Bar Kokhba Revolt became a symbol of valiant national resistance. The Zionist youth movement Betar took its name from Bar Kokhba's traditional last stronghold, and David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, took his Hebrew last name from one of Bar Kokhba's generals.^[299]

A popular children's song, included in the curriculum of Israeli kindergartens, has the refrain "Bar Kokhba was a Hero/He fought for Liberty," and its words describe Bar Kokhba as being captured and thrown into a lion's den, but managing to escape riding on the lion's back.^[300]

See also

• History of the Jews in the Roman Empire
• Jewish revolt against Heraclius, 614–617/625
• List of conflicts in the Near East
• Sicaricon (Jewish law)

Explanatory notes

1. Legion was also possibly disbanded as a result of the campaigns in Brittania or Roman–Parthian War of 161–166
2. Hebrew: מֶרֶד בַּר כּוֹכְבָא, romanized: Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ‍. Other names include the Third Jewish–Roman War, the Third Jewish Revolt, and the Second Jewish Revolt,^[6][7][8] when not counting the Diaspora Revolt (115–117), which appears to have been only marginally fought in Judaea. Jewish sources occasionally refer to the revolt as the "War of Betar."^[9]
3. Eusebius's explanation may reflect his supersessionist views.^[31]
4. According to the story, Joshua ben Hananiah, a sage who died just before the revolt, intervened and prevented the situation from escalating into an armed revolt.^[55][53]
5. One option is Kosiba, located 8 kilometers north of Hebron.^[83] Another alternative is Khirbet En el-Kizbe, a ruin in the Judaean Foothills near the Te'omim Cave.^[91]
6. The exact start of "year one" of the administration remains debated, with some scholars proposing Nissan (March/April) 132, while others suggest the summer or fall of that year.^[113]
7. The ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.
8. The identification of these locations has been the subject of scholarly debate. Kefar Lekitaya has been identified by some with Khirbet al-Kut, near Ma'ale Levona, while others associate it with Beit Liqya, located along the Emmaus–Jerusalem road. Hammat has been variously proposed to correspond to Hamat Gader in the Galilee or Hammata near Emmaus in Judea. Similarly, the Valley of Bet Rimmon has been located either in the Lower Galilee, near Wadi Ramana, or in Judea, near the village of Rimon, south of Ba'al-hazor.
9. Nicole Belayche described the exclusion zone as extending from the area of Neapolis in the north to Jericho in the east,^[170] and Historian Menahem Mor writes that Jews were expelled from the districts of Gophna, Herodion, and Aqraba.^[171]
10. Historian Moshe David Herr explains that Hadrian's decrees did not aim to abolish Judaism, but rather targeted its nationalist elements while permitting unrelated practices such as dietary laws and the rejection of idolatry.^[185] Talmudic scholar Saul Lieberman argued that the decrees were not issued all at once, but evolved gradually and aligned with standard Roman practices toward rebellious provinces.^[185]
11. According to Mor, the expansion of the Samaritans into formerly Jewish areas also resulted in increased proximity and economic competition between the two populations. Consequently, the Jewish sages altered their perception of the Samaritans, classifying them as strangers.^[206]
12. An alternative interpretation by G. W. Bowersock and Menahem Mor suggests the arch was an honorary monument erected by the camp's commander to commemorate Hadrian's visit to the region in 130 CE, prior to the revolt.^[126]