[11] The First Jewish-Roman War ended with the devastating siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, including the burning of the Second Temple—the center of Jewish religious and national life.

The Romans' brutal suppression of this uprising led to the near-total depopulation of Judea proper through a combination of battlefield casualties, mass killings, and the widespread enslavement of survivors.

These catastrophic events expanded and strengthened the Jewish diaspora, driving profound religious and cultural transformations that would shape Judaism for millennia.

With the Temple's sacrificial cult no longer viable, other forms of worship developed, centered on prayer, Torah study, and communal synagogue gatherings, enabling Jewish communities to preserve their identity and practices despite dispersion.

[17][18] That year, the Roman general Pompey intervened in a succession war between brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were fighting for the throne following the death of their mother, Queen Salome Alexandra.

[22][24] Parts of the former kingdom were detached and incorporated into the province of Syria, likely in an attempt to weaken the Jewish population economically and pave the way for future annexation.

[29] After his death in 4 BCE, his realm was divided among his sons:[28] Archelaus became ethnarch of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea, while Herod Antipas governed Galilee and Perea.

[44] In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus mentions that in 39 CE Agrippa accused Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, of planning a rebellion against Roman rule with the help of Parthia.

[46] However, only Caligula's death at the hands of Roman conspirators in 41 prevented a full-scale war in Judaea, that might have spread to the rest of the eastern part of the empire.

[51] Caligula's death did not stop the tensions completely, and in 46 an insurrection led by two brothers, the Jacob and Simon uprising, broke out in the Judea province.

[54] After Agrippa II, a pro-Roman Jewish king, failed to relax the crowds and fled the city,[55][56] Eleazar ben Hanania, the Temple captain, halted sacrifices for Rome—effectively declaring rebellion.

[61] At this stage, the Roman legate of Syria, Cestius Gallus, assembled a force including the Legio XII Fulminata and auxiliary troops from regional vassals,[62] devastating Jewish settlements such as Chabulon, Jaffa and Lydda.

[63] However, after initial successes, he withdrew from the city for unclear reasons and was decisively ambushed at the Bethoron Pass,[64] suffering losses equivalent to a full legion.

[77] Josephus, who had been the commander of the Galilee, surrendered after the city's fall and later gained Roman favor by claiming prophetic visions of Vespasian's rise to power,[78] ultimately becoming a historian under Flavian patronage and the main source for the war.

[79][80] Taricheae mounted fierce resistance before falling in an event of mass killing, with its survivors facing execution, slavery, or other severe punishments.

As conditions within Jerusalem deteriorated catastrophically—with widespread famine, disease, and factional violence—the Romans employed psychological warfare, including mass crucifixions of escapees and parades displaying their military might.

[97][98] With Jerusalem destroyed, the Romans launched an operation aimed at eliminating the last pockets of resistance: the rebel-held desert fortresses of Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.

[99][100][101] Under Sextus Lucilius Bassus, the Romans swiftly captured Herodium, secured the surrender of Machaerus,[102][103] and then eliminated rebel forces in the Forest of Jardes.

[105][106] This massive engineering effort on an isolated, fortified rocky plateau near the Dead Sea included a complete circumvallation wall and an enormous siege ramp, which still stands today.

[106][101] According to Josephus, when the Romans finally breached the fortress walls, they discovered that the Sicarii defenders, led by Eleazar ben Yair, had chosen mass suicide over capture—960 men, women, and children died by their own hands, with only seven survivors.

[110][111] The uprisings, which followed decades of ethnic tensions that sometimes escalated into violence,[112] appear to have been influenced by events in Judaea, including the destruction of the Temple[110] and the arrival of insurgents after the First Jewish–Roman War, spreading revolutionary ideas among local Jewish communities.

[113] Also fueling the unrest were messianic expectations of divine redemption,[110][114][115] the humiliating Jewish Tax,[110] and what seems to be an attempt to create a mass movement of Jews from the diaspora into Judaea.

[116][114] In Libya, Jewish forces launched attacks against Greek and Roman populations under the leadership of either Andreas (according to Dio/Xiphilinus) or Lukuas (according to Eusebius) – possibly the same individual known by both names.

They plundered the countryside and overcame local resistance, prompting Greeks, supported by Egyptian peasants and Romans, to retaliate with a massacre of Alexandria's Jews.

[126] In late 116 or early 117,[126] he arrived in Egypt with substantial land and naval forces, including Roman legions, auxiliaries, and local recruits.

[143][144] The immediate catalysts for the rebellion included Emperor Hadrian's decision to establish the pagan colony of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem,[145][146][147] extinguishing Jewish hopes for the Temple's restoration, and possibly also the imposition of a ban on circumcision.

The defeat marked a turning point in Jewish history, leading to a shift in messianic expectations and the development of a more cautious, conservative rabbinical approach to political resistance.

[157] This episode also ended Jewish sectarianism: The Sadducees, whose authority and prestige were linked to the Temple, vanished as a distinct group, as did the ascetic Essenes.

[167][168] These changes established patterns of religious practice that would sustain and shape Jewish life for millennia, even as Jews faced further exile and dispersion from the Land of Israel.

[169] According to rabbinic tradition, a key moment in this transformation took place during the siege of Jerusalem, when the Pharisaic sage Yohanan ben Zakkai had himself smuggled out of the city in a coffin.