The Battle of Beth Horon was a military engagement fought in 66 CE between the Roman army and Jewish rebels in the early phase of the First Jewish–Roman War.

[1] During the event, the Syrian Legion Legio XII Fulminata with auxiliary support headed by Legate of Syria Cestius Gallus was ambushed by a large force of Judean rebel infantry at the passage of Beth Horon, on their retreat from Jerusalem towards the coastal plain.

[4][5] The defeat of the Roman Army had major implications in prolonging the rebellion, leading to the short-lived Judean self-governorship in Judea and Galilee.

In 37 BC Rome installed Herod the Great as a client king of Judea, helping him oust the Parthian-backed leader Antigonus II Mattathias.

With an aim of crushing the rebels and restoring order, Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, marched on Jerusalem with Legio XII Fulminata, 2,000 legionaries selected from each of the other legions nearby, six cohorts of auxiliary infantry and four squadrons of cavalry.

[13] Gallus conquered Bezetha, in the Jezreel Valley, soon to be the seat of the Great Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme religious court), but was unable to take the Temple Mount; he now decided to withdraw and wait for reinforcements.

In Manda Scott's historical novel, Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth, the author describes the Battle of Beth Horon and the destruction of the XII legion.