First Jewish–Roman War | ||||||||
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Part of the Jewish–Roman wars | ||||||||
Judaea and Galilee in the first century |
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Belligerents | ||||||||
Roman Empire |
Supported by:
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Radical factions: |
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Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
Gessius Florus (66 CE) Titus (67-73 CE) Lucilius Bassus Agrippa II (WIA) |
Ananus ben Ananus † Eliezar ben Hanania † Yosef ben Matityahu (POW) Yosef ben Gurion Simon Bar-Giora |
Yohanan of Gush Halav (POW) Eleazar ben Ya'ir † |
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Strength | ||||||||
Roman guard (3,000) in early stage Syrian Legion (30,000) in Beth Horon; 5 Legions (60,000–80,000) at Jerusalem siege |
10,000 under Ananus 15,000 under Bar-Giora 500 Adiabene warriors |
6,000 under Yohanan of Gush Halav 2,400 under Eleazar ben Simon 20,000 Idumeans Several hundred Sicarii |
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Casualties and losses | ||||||||
10,000 soldiers killed estimate | 25,000–30,000 killed | 10,000–20,000 killed | ||||||
According to Josephus, 1.1 million non-combatants died in Jerusalem, mainly as a result of the violence and famine. Many of the casualties were actually foreigners who had wanted to experience the festivities around Passover but instead got trapped in the chaotic siege. He also tells us that 97,000 were enslaved. Matthew White, The Great Big Book of Horrible Things (Norton, 2012) p.52, estimates the combined death toll for the First and Third Roman Jewish Wars as being approximately 350,000 |
Supported by:
Radical factions:
Gessius Florus (66 CE)
Cestius Gallus (66 CE)
Yohanan of Gush Halav (POW)
Eleazar ben Simon †
The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called the Great Revolt (Hebrew: המרד הגדול ha-Mered Ha-Gadol), was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judea Province (Iudaea) against the Roman Empire. The second was the Kitos War in 115–117, which took place mainly in the diaspora, and the third was Bar Kokhba's revolt of 132–136 CE.