List of massacres in Roman Judea
The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in ancient Israel and Judea prior to the establishment of the Roman province of Syria Palæstina.
- For massacres that took place in Southern Levant prior the establishment of the Mandatory Palestine in 1920, see List of massacres in Ottoman Syria
- For massacres that took place in the Mandatory Palestine, see List of killings and massacres in Mandatory Palestine.
- For massacres that took place during the 1948 Palestine War, see Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War.
- For massacres that have occurred in Israel following its declaration of independence, see List of massacres in Israel.
- For massacres that have occurred in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1967, see List of massacres in Palestinian Territories.
| Name | Date | Location | Responsible Party | Deaths | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) | 63 BC | Jerusalem | Pompey the Great | 12,000 | Jews were massacred by invading Romans;[1] event marked the end of Jewish independence |
| Siege of Jerusalem (37 BC) | 37 BC | Jerusalem | Herod the Great and Romans | Unknown | Roman troops pillaged and killed all in their path; Herod exterminated the Hasmonian line[2] |
| Massacre of the Innocents | 6-4 BC | Bethlehem | Herod the Great | Unknown, estimated thousands | Biblical account of infanticide and gendercide |
| First Jewish-Roman War | 66 | Judaea Province | Romans | 250,000-1,100,000[3] | Jews were massacred by Romans throughout the war; 97,000 enslaved; first of three major Jewish revolts against Romans; resulted in destruction of the Holy Temple. Most historians state that Palestine couldn't support a population large enough to produce this number of deaths. Among the population estimates are
Anthony Byatt, "Josephus and population numbers in first century Palestine." Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 105:51 (1973): 2,265,000 inhabitants C. C. McCown, 'The Density of Population in Ancient Palestine', Journal of Biblical Literature, 66:425 (1947): less than 1,000,000 inhabitants Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums (1924): 500,000 inhabitants. Seth Schwartz, Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. (2001): 500,000 inhabitants |
| First Jewish-Roman War | 66 | Judaea Province | Jewish rebels | Unknown[4] | Massacre of Roman garrisons at Masada, Cypros, and Jerusalem. |
| Kitos War | 115-117 | Judaea Province and elsewhere | Romans and Jewish rebels | 440,000+[5][6][7] | Large scale massacres of both Jews and Romans |
| Bar Kokhba revolt | 132-136 | Judaea Province | Romans | 580,000[8] | Decisive Roman victory. Romans enslaved many Jews of Judaea, massacred many Jews, suppressed Jewish religious and political authority, banned Jews from Jerusalem, and renamed and merged Judaea into the Syria Palaestina province. |
References
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:149-151
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14:403
- ^ [1] Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ^ , Mladen Popovi The Jewish Revolt Against Rome; Interdisciplinary Perspectivesl. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ^ Ta'anit 18b; Yer. Ta'anit 66b
- ^ Pes. 50a; B. B. 10b; Eccl. R. ix. 10
- ^ Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, 7.12.6.
- ^ The 'Five Good Emperors' (roman-empire.net)
