Judean Free Government

First Jewish–Roman War

Judaea and Galilee in the first century

Date	66–73 CE
Location	Judaea (Roman province)
Result	Roman victory, destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple

Belligerents

Roman Empire

Judean Free Government:

Sadducees
Pharisees
Peasant faction

Supported by:

Adiabene volunteers

Radical factions:

Sicarii

Commanders and leaders

Gessius Florus (66)
Cestius Gallus (66)

Vespasian (67-69)

Titus (67-71)

Lucilius Bassus (71-72)

Lucius Silva (72-73)

Agrippa II (WIA)

Ananus ben Ananus †
Yosef ben Gurion
Eliezar ben Hanania †
Yosef ben Matityahu (POW)
Simon Bar-Giora

Zealots:
Yohanan of Gush Halav (POW)
Eleazar ben Simon †
Edomites:
John
Jacob ben Sosa
Simon ben Cathlas
Phineas ben Clusothus

Menahem ben Yehuda †

Eleazar ben Ya'ir †

Strength

Roman guard 3,000 (spring 66)
Syrian Legion 30,000 (summer 66);
5 Legions 60,000–80,000 (67-70)
Legio X Fretensis 6,000 troops (70-73)

10,000-15,000 Free Government forces
15,000 Peasant militants
500 Adiabene warriors

6,000 Zealots under Yohanan
2,400 Zealots under Eleazar
20,000 Idumeans

Sicarii:
Several thousand (67)
Several hundred (73)

Casualties and losses

10,000+ soldiers killed

25,000–30,000 killed

10,000–20,000 Zealots and Idumeans killed

Thousands of Sicarii killed

According to Josephus, 1.1 million non-combatants died in Jerusalem and 100,000 in Galilee
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