A STUDY OF THE BAR KOKHBA REBELLION AND THE IUDEAN POLICY OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR HADRIAN IN THE SECOND CENTURY AD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17119694Keywords:
Aelia Capitolina, Bar Kokhba, Revolt, Hadrian, Provincia Iudeia, Roman Legions, Simon Bar Kokhba, Jewish DiasporaAbstract
The Bar Kokhba Revolt was the last major military, religious, political and cultural uprising of the Jewish people against the Roman Empire, which took place between 132-135 AD. With the second destruction of Solomon's Temple in the first Great Jewish-Roman War (66-73 AD), the Jews felt both their religious freedom and their ethnic identity threatened. It was the increasing Roman pressure on Iudeia from the first war that once again encouraged the Jews to revolt. Emperor Hadrian's conversion of Iudeia into a pagan Roman colony called Aelia Capitolina, his prohibition of Jewish religious practices, and the construction of the temple of Iupiter on the Temple Mount were among the main factors that triggered the revolt. This, combined with the expectation of a savior among the Jewish people, made rebellion inevitable. A man named Simon Bar Kokhba was recognized as the messiah by some Jewish clerics and enjoyed great popular support. Thus, under the leadership of Bar Kokhba, the Jews revolted against Rome. They were initially successful in inflicting serious losses on the Roman legions through tactics such as guerrilla warfare, underground bunkers and organized resistance. However, the Roman legions violently suppressed this last revolt by targeting the Jews' cave shelters. Iudeia was largely destroyed, thousands of Jews were massacred, and the survivors were exiled from their homeland and forced into a life of diaspora. Thus, this last event led to the strengthening of the Jewish Diaspora and the dispersal of its population around the world. The revolt left a deep mark on Jewish history and the figure of Bar Kokhba became a symbol of resistance. It also played an important role in shaping the Jewish people's determination to survive and their hopes for future liberation. In this study, the Bar Kokhba Revolt will be evaluated in the light of ancient and modern sources, both in its historical context and as a reflection of Rome's policies towards religious and ethnic minorities.
References
Cassius Dio. (=Historiae Romanae) Cassius Dio. (1925). Roman History (Books XXXVI-XL) (C. III) (çev. E. Cary), William Heinemann; The Macmillan Co. (Loeb Classical Library 53), London and New York.
Cassius Dio. (=Rhomaika) Cassius Dio. (1914). Roman History (Books LXI-LXX) (C. VIII) (çev. E Gary), William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, London; New York.
Eusebios. (=Historia Ecclesiastica) Eusebius. (1926). Ecclesiastical History (Books I-V) (C. I) (çev. K. Lake), Harvard University Press, Cambridge. (Loeb Classical Library, No. 153).
Historia Augusta. (1924). Historia Augusta (C. I) (çev. D. Magie), Harvard University Press, London. (Loeb Classical Library 139).
Paulus Orosius. (=Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII). Paulus Orosius. (1964). The Seven Books of History against the Pagans (çev. R. J. Deferrari), The Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C.
Abusch, R. (2003). Negotiating Difference: Genital Mutilation in Roman Slave Law and the History of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (Ed. P. Schäfer), The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered, ss. 71-91, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen.
Applebaum, S. (1976a). Prolegomena to the Study of the Second Jewish Revolt (A. D. 132–135), British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
Applebaum, S. (1976b). Economic Life in Palestine, (Ed. S. S. M. Stern), The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions (C. II), ss. 631-700, Van Gorcum, Assen.
Applebaum, S. (1984). “The Second Jewish Revolt (ad 131–35)”, Palestine exploration quarterly, 116(1): 35-41.
Barnard, L. W. (1969). “Hadrian and Judaism”, Journal of Religious History, 5(4): 285-298.
Bietenhard, H. (1948). “Die Freiheitskriege der Juden unter den Kaisern Trajan und Hadrian und der messianische Tempelbau”, Judaica, 4(1): 57-77.
Birley, A. R. (1997). Hadrian. The restless Emperor, Routledge, London and New York.
Blaschke, A. (1998). Beschneidung: Zeugnisse der Bibel und verwandter Texte, Francke Verlag, Tübingen.
Bowersock, G. W. (1980). A Roman Perspective on the Bar Kokhba War (Ed. W. S. Green), Essays in Reli gion and History, ss. 131-141, Ann Arbor.
Boyarin, D. (1994). A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity, University of California Press, Berkeley. (Contraversions: Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture, and Society).
Burnstein, B. H. (2013). The Causes Of The Bar Kokhba Revolt: A Critical Reassessment And New Comparisons, University of Michigan, Michigan.
CNG= Classical Numismatic Group. (2012). Auction 91 Lot 681.
Cohen, S. J. D. (1987). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville; Kentucky.
Cordier, P. (2001). “Les romains et la circoncision”, Revue des Études juives, 160(3): 337-355.
Dąbrowa, E. (2017). Hadrianic Governors of Syria: A Reappraisal. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 285-291.
Dando-Collins, S. (2012). Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion, Thomas Dunne Books, New York.
Eck, W., Foerster, G. (1999). “Ein Triumphbogen für Hadrian im Tal von Beth Shean bei Tel Shalem”, Journal of Roman Archaeology, 12: 294-313.
Eshel, H. (2006). The Bar Kokhba Revolt, 132-135, (Ed. S. T. Katz), Cambridge History of Judaism, ss. 105-121, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Eshel, Ḥ., & Amit, D. (1988). Meʻarot ha-miflaṭ mi-teḳufat mered Bar-Kokhva, ha-Ḥevrah la-ḥaḳirat Erets-Yiśraʼel ṿe-ʻatiḳoteha, Israel.
Freyne, S. (1980). Galilee From Alexander the Great to Hadrian 323 Bce to 135 Ce A Study of Second Temple Judaism, University of Notre Dame Press, Wilmington, Del.; Notre Dame, Ind.: M. Glazier, Inc.
Fündling, J. (2006 ). Kommentar zur Vita Hadriani der Historia Augusta, R. Habelt, Bonn. Drazin, I., Wanger, S. M. (2008). Onkelos on the Torah Leviticus, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem.
Gafni, I. M. (1997). Land, Center and Diaspora: Jewish Constructs in Late Antiquity, Sheffield Academic Press, İngiltere.
Golan, D. (1986). “Hadrian’s Decision to supplant "Jerusalem" by Aelia Capitolina”, Historia. 35(2): 226-239.
Goodman, M. (2007). Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations, Vintage, New York.
Gündüz, Ş. (1998). Din ve İnanç Sözlüğü (1. Baskı), Vadi Yayınları, Ankara.
Grabbe, L. L. (2010). An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, T&T Clark International Hillel and Jesus, London.
Grabbe, Lester L. (2011). Synagogue and Sanhedrin in the Frist Century (C. II) (Eds. T. Holmén ve S. E. Porter), ss. 1723-1745, Leiden, Brill: Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus.
Hachlili, R. (1988). ancient jewish art and archaeology in the land of ısrael. Brill, Leiden, New York, K0benhavn, Köln.
ANS= Hendin, D. (2021). Guide to Biblical Coins (6. Baskı), American Numismatic Society, New York.
Hodges, F. M. (2001). “The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to" Lipodermos", Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the" Kynodesmē"”, 75(3), Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 375-405.
Horbury, W. (2014). Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Isaac, B. (2003). Roman Religious Policy and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (Ed. P. Schäfer), The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered, ss. 37–54, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen.
Isaac, B. (2017). Caesarea-on-the-Sea and Aelia Capitolina: Two Ambiguous Roman Colonies, L’héritage grec des colonies romaines d’Orient.
Isaac, B. H., Roll, I. (1976). “A Milestone of A.D. 69 from Judaea: The Elder Trajan and Vespasian”, The Journal of Roman Studies, 66: 15-19.
Isaac, B., & Oppenheimer, A. (1985). “The revolt of Bar Kokhba: ideology and modern scholarship”, Journal (The) of Jewish Studies London, 36(1): 33-60.
Jones, A. H. (1931). “The urbanization of Palestine”, The Journal of Roman Studies, 21(1): 78-85.
Kanael, B. (1957). “The partition of Judea by Gabinius”, Israel Exploration Journal, 7(2): 98-106.
Lehmann, O., & Stern, S. M. (1953). “A Legal Certificate from Bar Kochba's Days”, Vetus Testamentum, 3(4): 391-396.
Maccoby, H. (1998). The Mythmaker Paul and the Invention of Christianity, Barnes & Noble Books NY, New York.
Magness, J. (2002). In the footsteps of the Tenth Roman Legion in Judea. The First Jewish Revolt – Archaeology, History and Ideology, ss. 189-212, Routledge, London & New York.
Mantel, H. (1969). “[The Causes of the Bar Kokba Revolt]: Postscript”, The Jewish Quarterly Review, 59(4): 341-342.
RIC= Mattingly, H., Amandry, M., Burnett, A., & Mairat, J. (1984). The Roman imperial coinage (2. Baskı), (Eds. C. H. V. Sutherland, R. A. G. Carson, I. Carradice, & T. V. Buttrey), Spink and Son Ltd, London.
AJC= Meshorer, Y. (1982). Ancient Jewish coinage (C. II), Amphora Book, New York.
Meshorer, Y. (1989). Aelia Capitolina: Catalogue of Coins from the Eleventh Regnal Year of Hadrian to the Reign of Heraclius, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
TJC= Meshorer, Y. (2001). A treasury of Jewish coins from the Persian period to Bar Kokhba (C. I ve II), Yad ben-Zvi Press, Jerusalem.
Meshorer, Y., Bijovsky, G., & Fischer-Bossert, W. (2013). Coins of the Holy Land: the Abraham and Marian Sofaer Collection at the American Numismatic Society and the Israel Museum (C. I), (Eds. David Hendin & Andrew Meadows), American Numismatic Society, New York.
Mildenberg, L. (1980). “Bar Kokhba coins and documents” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 84: 311-335.
Mildenberg, L. (1984). The coinage of the Bar Kokhba War, Sauerländer, Typos VI. Aarau.
Mor, M. (2016). The Second Jewish Revolt: The Bar Kokhba War, 132–136 CE (C. LXVI), Brill, Leiden.
Nânâ, M. (2008). Yahudi Tarihi (çev. A. Batur), Selenge Yayınları, İstanbul.
Kokkinos, N. (2016). 11 An Approach to Herodian Peraea. Viewing Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology, ss. 271-290). Brill.
Noy, D. (2000). Foreigners at Rome: Citizens and Strangers, Classical Press of Wales, Londra.
Orni, E.; Efrat, E. (1973). Geography of Israel, Israel University Press, Kudüs.
Oppenheimer, A. (2003). The Ban of Circumcision as a Cause of the Revolt A Reconsidera tion (Ed. P. Schäfer), The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered, ss. 55-69, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen.
Özen, Â. (2001). Yahudilikte İbadet, Ayışığı Kitapları, İstanbul.
Peltonen, J. (2019). Alexander the Great in the Roman Empire, 150 BC to AD 600, Routledge.London and New York.
Pollard, N. (2000). Soldiers, Cities, and Civilians in Roman Syria, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
Rutgers, L. V. (1995). The Jews in Late Ancient Rome: Evidence of Cultural Interaction in the Roman Diaspora, Brill, Leiden.
Schäfer, P. (1981). Der Bar-Kokhba-Aufstand Studien zum zweiten jüdischen Krieg gegen Rom, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen.
Schäfer, P. (2003a). The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest (2. Baskı), Routledge, London and New York.
Schäfer, P. (2003b). The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen.
Schiffman, L. H., & VanderKam, J. C. (2010). Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea scrolls (C. I) [A-M]. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Schürer, E. (1973). The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.- A.D. 135) (C. I) (Eds. P. Vermes; M. Black), Bloomsbury T&T Clark, London; New Delhi; New York; Sydne.
Sevilla-Sharon, M. (1981). İsrail Ulusu'nun Tarihi, Graph Press, Yeruşalayim.
Sheppard, S. (2013). The Jewish Revolt Ad 66–74, Osprey Publishing, Oxford.
Sherwin-White, A. N. (1966). The Letters of Pliny A Historical and Social Commentary, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Smallwood, E. M. (1959a). “The legislation of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius against circumcision”, Latomus, 18(2): 334-347.
Smallwood, E. M. (1976). The Jews under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian, Brill, Leiden.
Stern, E. (1993). The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Exvacations in the Holy Land (C. II), The Israel Exploration Society, Kudüs.
SNG= Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. (1969). USA, The Collection of the American Numismatic Society, New York.
Torah. (1981). The Torah (çev. P. W. Günther; B. J. Bamberger; W. W. Hallo), Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York.
Weikert, C. (2016). Von Jerusalem zu Aelia Capitolina Die römische Politik gegenüber den Juden von Vespasian bis Hadrian, (Ed. H. J. Gehrke), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Wilson, M. R. (1989). Our Father Abraham Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, America.
Witulski, T. (2012). Apk 11 und der Bar Kokhba-Aufstand: Eine zeitgeschichtliche Interpretation, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen. (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament: 2. Reihe, Band 337).
Yadin, Y. (1971). Bar-Kokhba: The Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero of the Last Jewish Revolt Against Imperial Rome, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
Yadin, Y., Greenfield, J. C., Yardeni, A., Levine, B. A. (2002). The Documents from the Bar-Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters, Israel Exploration Society: Instutute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Aramaic and Nabatean Aramaic Papyri: Shrine of the Book, Jerusalem.
Zissu, B., Ganor, A. (2006). “A Lead Weight of Bar Kokhba's Administration”, Israel exploration journal, 56: 178-182.
Zissu, B., Langford, B., Raviv, D., Davidovich, U., Porat, R., & Frumkin, A. (2014). “Coins from the Elqana Cave in Western Samaria”, Israel Numismatic Journal, 18: 146-155.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fatma TEZCAN
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
