Aspects of the Jewish Revolt in a.D. 115-117

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Aspects of the Jewish Revolt in A.D. 115-117Author(s): Alexander FuksSource: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 51, Parts 1 and 2 (1961), pp. 98-104Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/298842Accessed: 12-08-2014 22:31 UTC

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2/8

ASPECTS OF

THE

JEWISH

REVOLT IN A.D.

II5-II7

*

By

ALEXANDER

FUKS

Our

knowledge

of the

Jewish

Revolt in

A.D. II5-II7,

derived

formerly

from scanty

literary

sources

only,

has been

considerably

enriched

during

the

last few decades by new

evidence, papyrological, epigraphical,

and

archaeological 1

and

the

course of the

events

in

the countries of the Jewish Diaspora can now be ascertained in fuller detail than was

possible before.2

The purpose

of this

paper

is to

inquire

into the

general aspects of the revolt.

i.

Extent

of

the Revolt.-Evidence for

fighting

in

Cyrenaica,

Egypt, Cyprus, Mesopo-

tomia

is reliable as well as for

its

repercussions

in

Judaea,

though

actual

fighting

did

not

occur there.

The impression given by

the

literary

sources is

that

in

Cyrenaica hostilities raged all

over

the country:

'

per

totam

Libyam

adversus

incolas

atrocissima

bella

gesserunt;

quae adeo tunc

interfectis

cultoribus

desolata

est, ut,

nisi

postea

Hadrianus

imperator

collectas

illuc

aliunde

colonias

deduxisset,

vacua

penitus

terra abraso

habitatore

mansisset.'

3

Epigraphical

and

archaeological

evidence

of damage caused during the

fighting and of reconstruction work after the revolt permits some localization. The bulk

of

the evidence points

to

Cyrene

and its

vicinity

as

the

main

field of hostilities.

In

an

inscription dated A.D.

I38,

Hadrian, styled

aCATr

p

Ka'

KTf'lrTT,

is said

to have adorned

the

city

of

Cyrene;

the

inscription probably

refers to the

comprehensive

work

of

reconstruction, begun shortly

after the end of the

revolt.4

From

another

inscription

we

learn about

reconstruction

of

the

temple

of

Apollo,

which

was

'thrown down' (xacalplp )

in war'

(?K EroA0o0).5

Second

century rebuilding

of the Roman Prothura

of

the

Sanctuary

of

Apollo

is to

be

inferred from a

carmen

dedicatorium.6

Inscriptions

from

the

Caesareum

and its

vicinity

mention

buildings

or

parts

of

buildings being

'

pulled

down

'

and

'

burned out

'

tumultu

Iudaico.7

Similar

expressions

occur

in

an

inscription

of

A.D. I

I9

commemorating

the

restoration

of the

Baths.8 The

restored

temple

of

Hecate

is

said to

have been

'

destroyed

and burned

'

in

the

Jewish

Revolt.9 Restoration of

a

temple,

probably that of Artemis, is recorded in another inscription.10 Milestone inscriptions

refer

to

the repair

of roads

entering

the

city,

which

were

'

torn and broken

up

'

in

the

'Jewish

disorder

'.1

From

an

inscription honouring

Hadrian

as

KTioTrqs

Kai

TpoqT[E'S

(JRS

XL,

88, A.3)

we can

possibly

deduce

difficulties

in

food-supply

caused

by damage

to

roads,

and

perhaps

also

to

agricultural

areas

near

Cyrene,

which were

alleviated

by

Hadrian. Archaeological

finds

testify

to

damage

to

buildings

and

other

objects

in

Cyrene,

including

the

temples

of

Zeus, Demeter, Artemis, Isis,

Hecate,

the

Dioscuri,

and

Apollo,

the theatre

in the

Sanctuary,

and

the

Baths;

a

number of

other

buildings

rebuilt

in

the

late

second

or

early

third

century

were

probably,

but less

certainly, damaged

in

the

revolt.

12

*

I owe

thanks

to Mr. P.

M. Fraser

(All

Souls,

Oxford), to

Dr. S. Applebaum (Jerusalem),

and to

Prof. Ch. Wirszubski (The Hebrew University,

Jerusalem)

for their

advice

and criticism.

I

Papyrological

evidence

is collected in the

Corpus

Papyrorum3'udaicarum

=

CP_'ud.)

II, nos. 435-450,

cf. also nos.

I58a,

I58b.

For inscriptional

sources

see

J7RS

XL, I950, 87-90 ; cf. ibid. 77

if. For

an

account of the

archaeological evidence,

cf. Apple-

baum,

_Journ._Jew.

Stud.

II, I95I, I77

f.f;

id.

Zion

XIX, 1954, 23 if. (in Hebrew).

2

For

the events

in

Egypt,

see

Tcherikover,

The

J7ews

in

Egypt in the

Hellenistic-Roman Age,

1945,

2o6

if.

(in Hebrew) ;

id.

CP

_Jud.

i,

86

ff.

;

Fuks,

Aegyptus

xxxiii,

1953,

13I

ff.; id. Zion

XXII, 1957,

i

ff. (in

Hebrew)

;

on

the course of events in

Cyrenaica see Applebaum,

_ourn.

_ew.

Stud. II,

1951,

I77 if.;

id. Zion XIX, 1954, 23 ff. (in Hebrew) ;

on

the revolt

in Cyprus, see Alon,

A

history of the

yews

in Palestine in the Period of the Mishnah and the

Talmud2, 1954, 241 (in Hebrew)

;

for Mesopotamia

see ibid.

250 ff. ; cf. also Motta,

Aegyptus

xxxii,

1952,

479 ff. For some repercussions of the revolt

in

Judaea, cf. Alon, O.C. 255 if.

3

Oros.

vii, 12,

6; see also: ' totam et Cyrenem'

in para. 7; cf.

Syncellus 349 b, who mentions a

colony sent

by

Hadrian ?iS

AtIp*lv

?pIThoe?cav.

4

SEG Ix, 136; on Hadrian's measures for the

restoration

of

normal life in Cyrene cf. Fraser, JRS

XL, 1950, 84

ff.

5

SEG ix, I89; cf. Ferri, Contributi di Cirene,

etc., I923, 5.

6

SEG ix, 190.

7

Applebaum, JRS XL, 1950, 89,

no.

D.3, and

89-90,

no.

E.

8

Afr.

Ital. I, 321.

9

SEG ix,

i68.

10

SEG IX, 171.

I

SEG

IX, 252; Applebaum,

o.c.

p. 89,

no.

D.4

;

Afr.

Ital.

I, 3I8.

12

For

a

survey

of

archaeological evidence, up

to

about

1950,

see Applebaum, Journ. Jew. Stud.

ii,

1951, 177-18I, nos. 1-21, cf. also map on p. i86.

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3/8

THE JEWISH REVOLT A.D.

II5-II7

99

There

is some

evidence for damage caused in other regions of Cyrenaica,

to be taken

in conjunction with that for

repopulation after the revolt. An inscription from Attaleia

13

records the fact that Gavius

Fronto of the XV Apollinaris had been sent by Trajan at the

head of three thousand veterans

Eis

TO

Kc(TOlKicdcl

Kup9vrlv.

Unfortunately we do

not

know in which region or regions of Cyrenaica these veterans were

settled.14 An area

indicative of limitatio in the vicinity of Apollonia suggests that there may have been a new

settlement there.15

Reconstruction seems to have occurred at Balagrae in the Antonine

period, probably after damage during the rising.16 Finally, a shrine in an

oasis 35 km.

south of Al Dab'a shows signs of destruction at the beginning of the second

century, and

is

attributed by the excavators to the Jewish

revolt.17

All

this shows that hostilities

were widespread throughout Cyrenaica and corroborates

the

general statements of literary

sources.18

In

Egypt hostilities spread all over the country. In Alexandria a

battle

(pax'i)

between the Jews and the Romans followed on clashes between the

Jews and the

Alexandrian Greeks.19 Both the

Nemesieion and the Great Synagogue of Alexandria

were ruined

20

either during

these clashes, which ended in

a

Roman victory before

13th October,

II5,21

or

during the renewed, short, outbreak at the beginning

of Hadrian's

reign.22 Evidence for Jewish military activity exists in the vicinity of

Pelousion.23

Further

south,

hostilities in the Athribite

district can be deduced from confiscation of land owned

by Jews who were killed or

missing in the revolt.24 Memphis

was

an

important

con-

centration-point of Roman forces and a

battle between the

Roman

and

the

Jewish

forces

took

place

in its

vicinity.25 Damage

to

agricultural property

in the

Fayuim

testifies to

fighting

in

that district.26 Confiscation

of

Jewish property

in

the

Herahleopolite

nome

would suggest fighting there

too.27

Oxyrhynchos

was one of the battlefields.28 Further

south, effects of fighting are

recorded for the Kynopolite

nome.29

Both actual heavy

fighting and the effects thereof are attested in a detailed manner for the

Hermopolite

district.30

Finally,

while the

literary

sources

speak

in

general

terms of

heavy fighting

throughout the Thebais,

1

the

papyri

localize unrest at least

in

two

of the

southern

districts, the Lycopolite and the

Apollinopolite.32

This evidence largely

corroborates

Orosius': 'Aegyptum vero totam. . . cruentis seditionibus turbaverunt

...'

(VII,

I2,

7).

In

Cyprus the evidence

centres

on

the city

of

Salamis,

which had been

captured

and

sacked by the Jewish rebels, who

slaughtered

its

Greek population.33

Dio

Cassius

34

in

speaking of the island of Cyprus

in

general

states that after

the

suppression

of

the

revolt

Jews were forbidden to settle on the

island.

In

fact, Jewish

settlement

in

Cyprus

seems

to

have ceased

altogether

until the fourth

century A.D.35

It

is, therefore,

reasonable to

suppose that hostilities were

not restricted to Salamis and

its

vicinity.

In

Mesopotamia, the Jewish

rebellion

was,

it

would

seem, part

of a

general

revolt of

the

local population against Roman

occupation,

and

it is

impossible

to

ascertain

the

extent

of

Jewish military activities there.36

The

magnitude

of the

Jews' military

effort is to be

measured

not

only

by

the

wide

13

Turk Tarth Bellet.

xi,

1947,

IOI-4,

no.

i9;

cf.

Robert,

Rev. Ft. Gr.

LXI,

1948,

20I.

14

It is perhaps

worth

noting

that

a

veteran,

pro-

bably of

XV Apollinaris, is mentioned

in an inscrip-

tion from Teucheira,

CIL iII, i, 6. For rebuilding

there

in

the late second

century, cf. Applebaum,

Yourn.

yew.

Stud. ii,

195I,

i82.

15

cf.

Applebaum, ibid. i8i.

In IG

II2,

3306,

close in time to the

revolt, Hadrian

is

called

OIK1MTn

Kai

E)epyiTns

by the Apolloniates; though

the

title might be conventional,

it

may perhaps

refer

to

real work

of rehabilitation in Apollonia.

16

Applebaum,o.c.

I83.

17

)'EA

XVII,

193I,

8i

ff.

18

cf.

also Alon, o.c. (n.

2)

239

if.

19

Tcherikover-Fuks,

CP

JIud.

II, no.

435;

cf.

also nos. Is8a and 158b.

20

cf.

Appian. iI,

90;

J. Sukkah

5, 55b.

21

For dating see below,

p. IOO.

22

cf. Euseb.,

Chron. II, I64;

cf.

Hier.,

ad Chron.

Eutseb.; Euseb., Versio

Armenica II, I64; Syncell.

348d, 349b; cf. also SHA, Hadr. 5,

2.

See Aegyptuis

XXXIII,

I953,

Iz52

f

23

Appian,

fr.

i9:

an

account

of

Appian's

flight

from

Egypt

via Pelousion and

his narrow

escape

from

the hands of the

Jews

who seized the

waterways

there.

24

CP

Yud.

no.

448.

25

ibid.

no. 438,

11.

i5

ff.,

and

no.

439.

26

ibid.

no.

449.

27

ibid. no.

445.

28

ibid.

nos.

445,

447,

450.

29

ibid.

no.

445.

30

ibid. nos.

436,

438, 442,

443,

446.

31

Oros.

vii,

12, 7;

Eus.,

Chron.

iI,

i64;

Vers.

Arm.

ii,

i64;

cf.

Hieron.

ad

Chron.

Euseb.;

Syncell.

347d.

32

CP Yud. nos. 444,

436.

33

Euseb., Chron.

iT,

i64; cf. Vers. Arm.; Oros.

VII,

12, 8;

Syncell.

348a.

34

LXVIII, 32.

35

cf.

Alon, o.c. (n.

2)

246.

36

See

below, p. I03,

n.

69.



4/8

100

ALEXANDER FUKS

territorial extension

of

the revolt

over Cyrenaica, Egypt, Cyprus

and Mesopotamia, but

also by the number of participants. In Cyrenaica, the extent of

physical damage caused

by the Jews demonstrates the use of considerable forces.

'

Many tens of thousands' of

Cyrenean

and

Egyptian Jews

are said to

have been killed in the

final struggle waged on

Egyptian

soil

against Turbo's expeditionary force.37 Many more

Jews from Cyrene must

have reached Egypt in something like a national 'trek' from Cyrenaica to Egypt.

With regard to

Egyptian Jewry itself,

it

is possible, and even probable, that some

strata of the Jewish population of Alexandria did

not join in the fighting there.38 Yet

great

numbers of Alexandrian

Jews must have taken part in the

clashes in Alexandria,

since Roman legions were

finally

called in

against the rebels. The fighting that ensued is

styled

pa'Xr-

n

an

official Roman

source-evidently the clash was of no small magnitude.39

Though

in

the chora

the

Egyptian Jews were helped by

Cyrenean fighters, it would be

hard to account for the fact that in certain

stages of revolt the

Jews were in control

of

entire districts, that even Egyptian fellahln had to be called to

arms, that a great expedi-

tionary force, including

cavalry

and a

fleet,

had to

be sent

against the rebels and quelled

the rebellion with

difficulty

40-unless

we

suppose

that

very great numbers of the Egyptian

Jews

rose

in

revolt.

In Cyprus, the Jews succeeded in capturing and destroying Salamis and annihilating

its

population.41 Though military details

of

this operation escape our knowledge, the

result would seem to point

to the use

of

large forces.

z. Duration

of

the

Revolt.-Though many chronological

questions still

remain

unsolved, new evidence

makes it

possible

to

establish with some exactitude the overall

duration

of

the revolt.

According

to

Eusebius,42 the revolt broke out

TO'J

aCvToKpCTOpOS

(sc. Trajan)

EIS

EvlaJTOv OKTCcKa arEKcTov

avJvovTos,

i.e.

according

to

the chronology

of the Ecclesiastical History,

the

year which starts after 27 January,

I I

5,

while the Chronicon

of

Eusebius dates it

to

the seventeenth

year

of

Trajan,

which

means, according

to the

chronological

scheme

of

the

Chronicon, September

I i4-September

II5.

These

dates

are

not mutually exclusive;

in fact

it

would seem that the date which Eusebius recognized

for

the

outbreak was

the

first

part

of

II5.43

This

statement of

Eusebius,

doubted

by

some

scholars,

is

now corroborated

by

a

papyrological document, the edict of

Rutilius

Lupus,

dated

13

October,

A.D.

I I5.44 The

document

reviews

a series of

events

in

Alexandria from

the outbreak

of

the

revolt-including Graeco-Jewish clashes,

and a battle

between Jews

and

Romans-up

to

the

suppression

of

the revolt

there. All these

events

took

place

before

the

date

of

the

edict,

i.e.

before

I3

October,

A.D. II5,

and time

must be

allowed

for them.

Since

the

revolt

broke out

in

Cyrenaica

before it started

in

Egypt,45

and the revolt

in

Alexandria

was already

a

past

event in

October I

I5,

the

early

date

given

by

Eusebius

would

seem

to

be

highly probable. Perhaps we

shall not

be

far

wrong

if we

put

the

beginning

of the revolt

early

in

A.D.

I

I5.

The

end

of

hostilities

can

now be fixed with

some

exactitude with

the help

of

inscriptional and papyrological evidence. According to

Eusebius,

the

rebellion

was

quelled by Q.

Marcius

Turbo after

prolonged fighting.46

After his Egyptian assignment,

Turbo was

sent

by

Hadrian

to

deal

with a revolt

in

Mauretania.47

It

was

supposed

until

recently

that

Turbo

acted in

Egypt

as a

military commander,

while civil

authority

was

vested in the

prefect

of

Egypt,

Rutilius

Lupus, until the

appointment

of Rammius

Martialis. But

an

inscription

from

Caesarea

in

Mauretania

48

states that Turbo was

'

praef.

A]eg',

and there

is

little doubt that he

was

praefectus Aegypti

after

Lupus

and

37 Euseb., HE IV, 2, 4:

6

8E

(scil.

Turbo)

wro22aTs

tixats

oOK

6Wiy&

E

Xp6vcp

T6v

Trp6s caCrroCs Sta-rovicas

n6XEov

oJXXS .aipt6c5aS1ouvcdaov,

O

lO6vov-C3v

d&T6

Kupivr,

e?xXe

Kc1

TrCov Trr'

IyirT'rrou

cuvaipouvvcov AouKo1a TC,OBactriA

c;Jrr6Cv,

dcvaipEI.

38

On the political attitudes of the Jewish

popula-

tion

in Alexandria, cf. V. Tcherikover, CP

Yud.

I,

59

ff., who stresses the moderate policies of

the upper

class.

39

ibid. no. 435, an edict of the prefect of Egypt,

Rutilius Lupus;

cf.

Aegyptus XXXIII,

1953,

135 ff.

40

CPJYud.

nos0.438, 439; Euseb., HE IV, 2, 3-4.

41

cf. above,

notes

33-4.

42

HE

IV,

2,

1-3.

43

ibid.

IV,

2,

i,

with

Hieron.,

ad Chron.

Euseb.

ii,

I65; cf.

Longden,

JRS

xxi,

193I,

6-7;

Wilcken,

Hermes,

xxvii,

I892,

472;

Premerstein,

Hermes

LVII,

1928,

306.

44

CP

Jud. no.

435;

for

dating

and

recent works

on

this

papyrus

see Introduction

and

bibliographical

list

given there.

45

See

below, n.

52.

46

HE

IV, 2,

3-4; cf. SHA, Hadr. 5, 8.

47

SHA,

Hadr.

S,

8.

48

Compt. rend.

1945,

I44

ff.

=

Ann.

epigr.

1946,

I

13.



5/8

THE JEWISH REVOLT IN A.D. II5-II7 IOI

before Martialis.49

He

replaced Lupus sometime after 5 January,

A.D. II7.

Since

Rammius Martialis was prefect in the first Egyptian regnal year of Hadrian

(II-28

August,

A.D.

II7),

and Turbo was appointed to his Mauretanian command after the death of

Trajan, it is probable that both appointments took place between

I I

and

28

August,

II

7.

Because Eusebius states definitely that Turbo put an end to the revolt of Egyptian and

Cyrenean Jews on the soil of Egypt,50 it would seem to follow that the revolt was regarded

as

having been quelled about mid-August

II 7.

This chronology is corroborated by the movements of Apollonios, the Strategos of

Apollinopolis-Heptakomia, during the revolt. About June

A.D. ii6

he left his

nome,

probably with a unit of militia from the district; he took part in a battle near Memphis

early

in

I I7;

he was still away from nome in July

I I7.

The first certain evidence for

his return to

peace-time duties

is

P.

Giss.

3, dated September or October II 7. Some time

between September and November

A.D. II7

Apollonios wrote an application, and then

a

reminder, to the prefect

of

Egypt, asking

for

sixty days leave to put in order

his

estates

in

the Hermopolite district damaged by the impious Jews. By then the fighting must

have

been

over.51

On all

these counts we may posit the second half

of

A.D.

I

I7

as

the end

of

fighting.

Thus the revolt of the Jewish Diaspora-or at least the revolt of Egyptian and Cyrenean

Jewry-lasted

for

approximately

two and a

half years.

3.

Co-ordination

of

the

Revolt.-The revolt first broke out

in

Cyrenaica,

where

Jews

rallied around the leader Loukuas-Andreas; shortly after the Jews of Egypt rose;

Cyprus

comes next

in

most

of

our

literary sources; the Jews

of

Mesopotamia

rebelled

later, when a general revolt started there in

A.D.

II6.52

It is

certain that co-ordination

between

the rebels of

Cyrenaica

and of

Egypt

was

complete; indeed,

more than that. Late in

A.D. II5,

or

early

in

A.D.

I I6,

the

Jews

of

Cyrenaica

left their

country

for

Egypt.

In

Egypt, disappointed

in

their

hope

of

joining

forces with the Jews of Alexandria, they turned to the chora. Here they fought hand

in

hand

with the Egyptian Jews, until, finally

'

many tens of thousands'

of

Cyrenean

and

Egyptian Jews

fell

fighting.53 Thus,

from the end

of

A.D. II5,

or the

beginning

of

A.D. II6,

the revolt of the Cyrenean Jews and the revolt of Egyptian Jewry became one

movement, under the command of the Cyrenean

'

Jewish King', Loukuas-Andreas.

Whether there was also co-ordination between

the Cyrenean-Egyptian fighters

and

the

Jewish

rebels of

Cyprus

and of

Mesopotamia

is

uncertain, though

it

is

possible

that there

were some

links.54

That, however,

can

be

neither proved

nor

disproved.

4.

Character

of

the

Fighting.-Though military

details

about

the revolt are

unknown,

it

is at

least clear how the Jews fought. A chapter

in

Dio epitomized

and

paraphrased

by Xiphilinus

describes

the

Jews'

cruelties

in a

horrific passage.

'

They

would eat the

flesh

of

their

victims, make belts for themselves

of

their entrails,

anoint

themselves

with

their blood

and

wear

their skins

for clothing; many they

sawed

in

two,

from the head

downwards;

others

they gave

to wild

beasts,

and still others

they

forced

to

fight

as

gladiators.

In

all

220,000

persons perished.

In

Egypt, too, they perpetrated many

similar

outrages,

and in

Cyprus, under the leadership of

a certain

Artemion. There, also,

240,000

perished.

.a.n

55

The

anti-Semitic tendencies of

Xiphilinus

have

long

been

recognized.56

But

even

if

49

Stein, Die

Prafekten Agyptens

59

ff.

50

HE

IV, 2, 4.

51

For the evidence and

discussion of its dating,

cf.

Aegyptus

XXXIII,

I953,

150

ff.

52

Euseb., Chron. II,

i64

(since

in

HE iv, z, I

ff.,

Eusebius deals

with Egypt only, his

Kai

Trpoa?-rt

car&

Kupi'vTv

s no indication of

sequence of outbreaks);

Hieron.,

ad

chron. Euseb. II,

I65

; Euseb.,

Vers. Arm.

II, I64;

Syncell. 347d; Dio Cass. LXVIII, 32 (we

should not be

misled by

the

fact that

in

cap. 29

Dio

starts

telling the story of revolt in

the East before he

tells

the

general

story of

the

revolt,

in

cap. 32).

53

Euseb., HE

IV, 2,

3

ff.: -rfis

?

-rap&

O-rTorV

i.e.

Alexandrian Jews)

avxpuaxias

rTo-X6v-rEso1

acrr

Kupwviv,

TfrV

Xcbpav

fis

Ai

'TroU 2?Sq0-rOUV-re Kal

TOrg (v

aCrri9

opo

s

q8eEpoVTES

8ivrrPovv,

'yoUpvoU

aCrav AoUKoOaJ

?' 0g 6

calrOKp&TCOp

TrE[y)e

M6pKlov

Toiippcova

c'vv

Bvv&atEi

rEr3 iail

varAJTtKi

&Fi 8e Kai irrIriK 6 8?

TroNaIS

p&Xats

onK

6?iycp

-rE

Xp6vc

-rTOv

rpOs Crro',s iaTrov1Lras

r6XsEpov

ro\A&S Upi&aSS

'Iousaicov, ou ,u6vov&nro

Kupi'vijs,

&aX KaiTO5V&Tr'Aiyorrvov

avvatpoUw?vCOV

AovnOCOU

Cp

paarAEi acorrZv, avaipET.

54

Turbo's

expeditionary force included

a

fleet (cf.

preceding note) ; the Jews commanded,

at a

certain

stage in the revolt, the water-ways of Pelousion (cf.

Appian,

fr. i9), which would seem to show that the

Jews were in possession of vessels (a vessel captured

by them is specifically mentioned by Appian). Con-

tact with Cyprus is a possibility. For Mesopotamia,

see n. 69 below.

55

Dio Cassius LXVIII, 32.

56

cf. Wilcken, Hermes XXVII, 1892, 479; id. Die

Bremer

Papyri p. I4, with n. 4.



6/8

102 ALEXANDER FUKS

Dio-Xiphilinus' story is stripped of its more terrible details and the notoriously

exaggerated

numbers discounted, the fact of cruel and

severe fighting would seem to remain.

Indeed,

without the horror-details, a similar story

is told in other sources ; Orosius says that the

Jews

'

quasi rabie efferati

. . .

exarserunt ', and speaks of

'

atrocissima bella ',

and

a

similar

impression is given by other

sources.57 It could be contended that all of them

are prejudiced against the Jews, were it not for the fact that their general tenor is rather

unexpectedly corroborated by a letter to Apollonios, the Strategos, from

his old

mother,

Eudaimonis, who prays to the gods to preserve her son from being roasted by the Jews.58

That is, to be sure, not a proof that the

Jewish rebels did roast their enemies ; the prayer

of Eudaimonis may very well be a symptom of war hysteria.59 The fact remains, however,

that

there were people in Egypt who

believed that Jews used to roast their enemies, and

what they believed then matters more

than what we believe, or do not believe

to-day.

The Jews waged not only an unusually atrocious and cruel war, but also a war of

annihilation and destruction. Salamis in Cyprus had been, as we have seen,

'

sacked and

its population annihilated' ; Libya was

so deserted after the cultivators had been killed

'

that

it would have remained a desert

had not Hadrian sent new settlers thither

'

;

the

evidence for

heavy damage in Cyrenaica

to roads, public buildings, and temples has

already been detailed above.60 The extent and character of damage would seem to

presuppose the use of great numbers of

men and of tools for work of destruction.

In

regard

to

Egypt, Eusebius states that

Hadrian

'

rebuilt Alexandria, ruined by the Jews ',61

and the

papyri refer to heavy damage to

roads, buildings, fields, and agricultural property

in

the

chora. The estates of Apollonios in the Hermopolite district were left

'

completely

uncared

for

. .

because of the attack of impious Jews'; fields in the

Fayium,

damaged

by the rebels, were still waste-land as late

as thirty years after the revolt.62 It might

be

contended that the damage was incidental

to the fighting

63

but for the impression given

by

the

evidence from Cyrenaica that wholesale annihilation and destruction was an

objective in itself, an impression sustained by Eusebius, HE

iv, 2,

3, who says of the

rebels:

TT'v

Xc?pav

7rs

Aiy(JTrTou

?~ETIVXrOUOvES


7/8

THE JEWISH REVOLT A.D. II5-II7

I03

hand, there is no evidence whatsoever for the supposition of Rostovtzeff that the

Egyptian

fellahin supported the Jewish rebels.68

In Mesopotamia the Jews' fight against the Romans was part of the general

effort of

the population to shake off the Roman yoke; there the Jews certainly

did not fight

against the non-Jewish population, and most probably joined forces with

it.69

5. Causes and Objectivesof the Revolt.-The literary sources do not state any tangible

cause

of

the revolt of the Jewish Diaspora. The authors seem to

have

been

baffled by

the

unexpectedness, intensity,

and

ruthlessness

of the events of

A.D. II5-II7.

According to Eusebius: 'IoJ8(akcov ivriVV

rcvIS

ETrava-Taca

TrapTToAu rrA?OoS

ac&v

81EcpOE1pEV

...

C'OTrEp 0JTro

TrVEV'JparoS

8EIVOU

TiVOS

KXaii

TraicLCO'8Os

acVEPPl1TrLOEVTES COppInVTO

TrpQS

TOU& ouvoixou&I

'ErvaS

orralaEIV.70

Orosius

says

'

incredibili

deinde

motu

sub uno tempore Judaei quasi rabie efferati per

diversas terrarum partes exarserunt '; and

'

tertia sub Trajano plaga Iudaeos

excitavit,

qui cum antea ubique dispersi ita

iam

quasi non essent quiescerent, repentino

omnes

calore

permoti

in

ipsos, inter quos

erant, toto orbe saevierunt

'.71

The very perplexity

of

Eusebius

and

Orosius gives us,

I think, some inkling of the causes of the revolt.

Perhaps they did not state any tangible cause because there was no tangible

cause to be

seen. It has been suggested by Lagrange,72 and argued by Tcherikover,73 that the

'

Revolt of the Diaspora

'

sprang not

from any tangible, rational cause, but was rooted

in the messianic yearnings of the Jews. Some of the arguments brought

forward to

substantiate this

supposition

can

be

worked out

in

fuller detail:

(a) According to Eusebius,

a

'

King', by the name of Loukuas,

led

the Cyrenean

Jewry, and later on the united forces of the Cyrenean and Egyptian fighters.74

That

there was a

'

Jewish King'

is borne out by papyrological evidence. According to

the

Acta Pauli et Antonini

75

a 'Jewish

King

'

of the stage and the mime was led forth by

the

Alexandrian Greeks

and

reviled by them in

a

mock-procession. Possibly

the incident

of

the

'

Jewish King

'

is also alluded to in the edict of Lupus, which is concerned

in part

with the same

events as

the

Acta.76

According to Wilcken, the

'

King' alluded

to in the

papyri is Loukuas ; he suggests that the Jewish leader fell into the hands of

the Romans

and was exposed to ridicule in Alexandria in a

'

triumphal

'

procession.77 According to

both Weber and Premerstein,78 Loukuas was not led in person in mock procession

by

the

Alexandrian mob, but was ridiculed in effigy

in a

theatrical performance

staged by

the

Alexandrian

anti-Semites.

The latter would seem

a

more probable supposition,

since

Loukuas most

probably

never

was a

Roman prisoner, certainly

not

in the time of

Lupus,

to whose

prefectureship

the incident

belongs.

It would seem that

Jewish

messianic

yearnings, personified

in

a 'Jewish King

'

(i.e.

on Tcherikover's

equation-a

Messiah

79)

were derided on the

stage by

the Alexandrian anti-Semites.

(b)

The term a&v6aioi 'lov8caloi came

into

use during

the revolt

in

Egypt;

it

became almost

an

official designation by the

end of

it,

and

is

echoed shortly

after

the

revolt in

the Acta Alexandrinorum.80

There seems to be some inner connection

between

68

SEHRE2

p. 348. Bilabel's interpretation of P.

Bad. 36, which if correct would point in the same

direction, is almost certainly wrong;

cf.

Aegyptus

XXXIII, 1953,

I

54,

n. i, and

CPyud.

no. 440.

69

Main

evidence:

Dio Cassius

LXVIII, 29 ff.;

Euseb., HE IV,

2,

5; Suid. s.vv.

6rr&aOcaa,rapEiKOl;

Oros. VII, I2, 7; Euseb., Chron. ii,

I64; Vers. Arm.

I64

;

Hieron.,

ad

chron. Euseb. ii, I65; Syncell.

348a; Nikeph. Callist. PG CXLV,

pp. 940 ff.; Pseudo-

Dionysius (ed. Chabot) I, I23.

For discussion cf.

Alon, o.c.

250

ff.; Longden,

CAH

XI, 858-9,

236-7;

id. JRS XXI, I93I, I

ff.;

Groag

in P-W

XXVI, coll. I878 ff.; Schiurer4

I, 666; Motta,

Aegyptus XXXII, I952, 484

if.; see also Lepper,

Trajan's Parthian War (1948).

70 HE IV, 2,

I-2.

71

VII, I2, 6, and

VII,

27,

6.

72

Le Messianisme chez

lesYuifs

1909, 308.

73

Yews in Egypt

225

if.; CPJud.

I, pp.

90

ff.

For some other views, see

Tcherikover's

n. 87.

74

HE

IV, 2,

4; cf. also 3 ; cf. Joh.

Nikiu

72, I4;

he is called

'Av8pEas

by Dio LXVIII, 32; possibly his

name was

AOVKoIJas

O

Kaai

'Av5p&as,

or vice-versa.

cf. Wilcken, Hermes xxvii,

i892, 472

if.

7

CPJ3ud.

nos. 158a, I58b.

76

ibid. no.

435, col. I, i6; cf. Aegyptus

xxxiii,

I953, '39.

7

7Zum

alexandrinischen Antisemitismuts

8I5.

78

Hermes L,

1915,

8i

f.; ibid.

LVII,

I922, 277.

7

cf. CPJud.

I,

92.

80

ibid. no. 438, 1. 4-the

writer, probably

one of

Apollonios' household, tells

of

the

attack

[rrp]6S ol/S

&voaiovs

Iov58aiovs.

In no. 443, col.

II,

11. 4-5,

Apollonios,

the

strategos,

uses

the

designation

&v6aioi

lov8aiot

in an

official communication to the

prefect.

It would seem that

by

the

end

of

the revolt it

has

become

almost

an

official

designation.

In

the Acta

Pauli

et

Antonini

the Alexandrians

complain

that

the

prefect 5ITra='

&voaious 'Iou8aiouS TrpOaKa-rCoKETV (CP

Jud.

no.

i58a,

col.

VI,

4).

In the Acta Hermaisci

(CPJud.

no.

157, col.

III,

49-50)

the Alexandrians beg Trajan:

TOTS

EavToli

poTIOEiV

Kai

pi

-roS

&voaioS

'1ouvatoiS

aVvfYOpEtV.

cf. ibid.

III,

42-3:

NvJTrocipEOa

6Tri Tr6 auvvpiov

aou

-TrNaOT

-rv

&voaicv

lov8aicv.



8/8

I

04 THE JEWISH REVOLT

A.D.

II5-II7

the

actions of

the Jews

in

A.D.

II5-117

and

the

genesis of the term avoiaoi

'louvaToi.

I submit that it was the iconoclastic aspect of the

Jews' action that generated the designa-

tion of

'

impious '. Destruction of temples, of shrines, as well as of statues of pagan gods

is well attested at least for Cyrenaica; indeed, temples and other sacred objects form

a high proportion of the objects destroyed or damaged

by the Jews, and the evil plight

of temples and statues of the Greek gods is testified by inscriptions. This violent

iconoclasm of the Jews and the designation 'impious

', which it seems to have earned

them,

make

it probable that the Jews waged a war not only against the pagans but also

against their gods.

The

objectives

of the Jewish

war

can only be

guessed at. Annihilation of the pagans

and their

holy places

seems to

have

been an objective in itself and not merely incidental

to the fighting. Physical damage especially in Cyrenaica, but also in Egypt and Cyprus

was

so

thorough and extensive that one might suppose that the Jews

did

not intend

to

go

on

living

in these

countries.

And in

fact,

the Jews of Cyrene left their country,

leaving scorched earth behind. Was this trek only

a first stage in leaving the Diaspora ?

Was

Judaca

the final destination of the rebels ?

Whatever the answers to these questions, the Jewish Revolt of

A.D. II5-II7

emerges

from old and new sources as the most massive and powerful movement of the Jews of

the Diaspora against the Graeco-Roman world.

81

There

is

nothing specific

or

unusual

about

the

use of the term

&v6aios.

It was not infrequently used

within religious groups

to denote deviations from the

rules and views of certain members of

these groups,

as well as to designate

members of other hostile

religious groups.

It was used

by

the Christians (see

Bauer's Griech. Deutsch. Wotterb 5,

s.v.

&v6aios;

cf. also e.g. P.

Thead.

2I, I

5 ; P. land.

20;

P.

Fouad

86, i8);

according

to

Josephus, C. Apionz. ,

248,

&Vooicos

was used by

the

Egyptian

priest

Manetho to

denote the way his co-religionists were

treated by the Jews

;

it

was

often used by the Jews

to designate their enemies

(e.g.

2

Macc. 7,

34;

8, 32; 4 Macc. I2,

II ; Ep. Arist. 289, see

also

Philo, in Flacc. I04; CPJzud.

no.

I58a,

col. ii,

I3).

Before A.D.

II5-II7

the

term

&v6aiot

was never a

standing designation

of the Jews.

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Aspects of the Jewish Revolt in a.D. 115-117

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