1. The Jewish king of Judaea, Agrippas I, dies in Caesarea (43 AD).

2. The Romans return to the system of sending procurators.

3. Rebel bands appear  ("robbers" [Gr. lestes] Josephus calls them: first Eleazar's, then (in the 50's) the Sicarii or "dagger men." It was also a time of "false prophets," "seducers" and "deceivers." (War II 5.2-3). These "robbers" and "deceivers" were surely apocalyptic eschatologists, but our only source on them is Josephus, who dismisses them, downplaying their motives (Why?).

4. Under Nero, the procurators become increasingly corrupt. The Jewish and Gentile residents of Caesarea get into a dispute over land beside the synagogue. The Jews bribe Florus, the procurator, to rule in their favor; he takes the money and spurns them. Then he sends to the Temple treasury, seizing silver. When the Jews of Jerusalem protest, Florus goes up with an army, erects a judgment-seat outside the palace (in the Armenian quarter of today, south of the Jaffa Gate), and orders his soldiers to sack the marketplace. They not only sack, they massacre. Florus has some Jews crucified. When the mass of the Jerusalemites continue to defy him (cutting the colonnades that link the Temple to the Antonia Fortress), Florus feels threatened and returns to Caesarea, leaving a Roman garrison in the Citadel near the Jaffa Gate.

5. "Meanwhile, some of those most anxious for war made a united attack on a fort called Masada, captured it by stealth, and exterminated the Roman garrison, putting one of their own in its place" (Jewish War, II 408 [17.2]). Later (IV, 391-417) we find Masada in the hands of the Sicarii; it was they, apparently, who captured it. Their leader, Menahem, finds weapons here and takes them to Jerusalem, where he fans the revolt.

6. In Jerusalem the Jews are split between rebels and peacemakers. Within the Temple command, some refuse to make sacrifices in honor of Rome and Caesar. A rival rebel group kills Menahem, whose cousin, Eleazar ben Ya'ir, escapes with a small band to Masada. They stay here for the rest of the revolt.  

7. The rebels who killed Menahem surround the Roman garrison in the Citadel, which surrenders. As these are leaving the city, having put down their arms, the rebels massacre them. They do this on a Sabbath, and now most of the Jews in Jerusalem expect terrible Roman revenge.

8. In Caesarea, the Gentiles massacre the Jews. Throughout the country, Jews turn on Gentiles in reprisal. Thousands die on both sides.

9. The Roman legate in Syria, Cestius Gallus, realizes at last that he has a problem. He comes with a legion and lays siege to Jerusalem. But then, for reasons that Josephus cannot fathom (and which we, therefore, don't know) he "recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world." (War II 8.7) This encourages the rebels, and they pursue his troops down the ridge of Beth Horon. In the narrowest place, they block the Romans and force them down the slope into the ravine, decimating much of the legion. Cestius manages to escape with a remnant to Caesarea.

10. "But as to those who had pursued after Cestius, when they were returned back to Jerusalem, they overbore some of those that favored the Romans by violence, and some them persuaded to join with them, and got together in great numbers in the temple, and appointed a great many generals for the war." (War II 9.3) These generals include Eleazar, chief of the Zealots (not to be confused with Eleazar son of Ya'ir, leader of the Sicarii on Masada), one "John the Essene," and Josephus himself.

This is the moment when the great mass of the people joins the revolt. Perhaps many do so under compulsion. They have, besides, a precedent: the successful Maccabean revolt against the Greek Empire. But it is likely that some see the three successive victories, culminating in the defeat of a whole Roman legion, as a sign that God has re-entered history on their side. How else can we explain the fact that even the separatist Essenes joined in?

MAIN MENU