Bar Kokhba revolt

Bar Kokhba revolt מֶרֶד בַּר כּוֹכְבָא‎
Part of the Jewish–Roman wars
Detail of Simon bar Kokhba from Benno Elkan's Knesset Menorah
Date 132–136 AD (main phase: autumn 132 – summer 135) Location Judaea, Roman Empire Result Decisive Roman victory Massacre and displacement of the Jewish population in Judea Renaming of Judaea to Syria Palaestina Jews banned from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas Suppression of Jewish religious practices by Hadrian Significant increase in the Jewish diaspora Territorial changes Destruction of the rebels' Jewish state by the Roman army
Belligerents
Roman Empire	Jews of Judaea
Commanders and leaders
Hadrian Quintus Tineius Rufus Sextus Julius Severus Gaius Poblicius Marcellus Titus Haterius Nepos Quintus Lollius Urbicus	Simon bar Kokhba † Eleazar of Modi'im † Akiva ben Joseph  Yeshua ben Galgula † Yonatan ben Bai'in Masbelah ben Shimon Eleazar ben Khita Yehuda bar Menashe Shimon ben Matanya
Units involved
Legio III Cyrenaica Legio X Fretensis Legio VI Ferrata Legio III Gallica Legio XXII Deiotariana Legio II Traiana Legio X Gemina Legio IX Hispana (?) Legio V Macedonica (parts) Legio XI Claudia (parts) Legio XII Fulminata (parts) Legio IV Flavia Felix (parts)	Bar Kokhba's army Bar Kokhba's guard Local militias Samaritan youth bands
Strength
Unknown (at least nine legions, either in full force or represented by detachments)[1]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Legio XXII Deiotariana possibly destroyed[2][3] Legio IX Hispana possibly disbanded[4][a] Legio X Fretensis sustained heavy casualties[5]	580,000 killed[b]

The Bar Kokhba revolt^[c] (132–136 CE) was a major uprising by the Jews of Judaea against the Roman Empire, marking the final and most devastating of the Jewish–Roman wars. Led by Simon bar Kokhba, the rebels established an independent Jewish state that lasted for several years. The revolt was ultimately crushed by the Romans, resulting in the near-depopulation of Judea through mass killings, widespread enslavement, and the displacement of much of the Jewish population.

Resentment toward Roman rule in Judaea and nationalistic aspirations remained high following the destruction of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt in 70 CE. The immediate triggers of the Bar Kokhba revolt included Emperor Hadrian's decision to build Aelia Capitolina—a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter—on the ruins of Jerusalem, extinguishing hopes for the Temple's reconstruction, as well as a possible ban on circumcision, a central Jewish practice. Unlike the earlier revolt, the rebels were well-prepared, using guerrilla tactics and underground hideouts embedded in their villages. Initially, the rebels achieved considerable success, driving Roman forces out of much of the province. Simon bar Kokhba was declared "nasi" (prince) of Israel, and the rebels established a full administration, issuing their own weights and coinage. Contemporary documents celebrated a new era of "the redemption of Israel," and coinage carried similar slogans, dated according to the years of independence.

The tide turned when Hadrian appointed one of Rome’s most skilled generals, Sextus Julius Severus, to lead the campaign, supported by six full legions, auxiliary units, and reinforcements from up to six additional legions. Hadrian himself also participated in directing operations for a time. The Romans launched a broad offensive across the province, systematically devastating towns, villages, and the countryside. In 135 CE, the fortified stronghold of Betar, the rebels' center of resistance, was captured and destroyed, and Simon bar Kokhba was killed. Many rebels and refugees sought shelter in natural caves, particularly in the Judaean Desert, but Roman troops besieged these hideouts, cutting off supplies and killing, starving or capturing those inside.

The revolt's consequences were disastrous. Ancient and contemporary sources estimate that hundreds of thousands were killed, while many others were enslaved or exiled. The region of Judea was largely depopulated, and the spiritual center of Jewish life shifted to Galilee and the expanding diaspora. Messianic hopes became more abstract, and rabbinic Judaism adopted a cautious, non-revolutionary stance. The divide between Judaism and early Christianity also deepened. The Romans imposed harsh religious prohibitions, including bans on circumcision and Sabbath observance, expelled Jews from the vicinity of Jerusalem, restricted their entry to one annual visit, and repopulated the city with foreigners.

Reconstructing the Bar Kokhba revolt is difficult due to limited and fragmentary sources. Unlike the First Jewish–Roman War, it lacks a contemporary historian like Josephus.^[12][13] Historians must rely on a few literary sources with varying reliability, aims, and dates, leaving many key questions unanswered.^[13]

Cassius Dio, a Roman statesman and historian of Greek background writing in the early 3rd century CE,^[14] offers the most detailed surviving Roman account of the revolt, found in Book 69 of his Roman History.^[15][16] The original text survives only through an 11th-century epitome by John Xiphilinus, whose abridgment is generally regarded as faithful to Dio's language and content.^[14] Dio presents the revolt from a military perspective, including descriptions of underground hideouts used by Jewish rebels—though he does not mention Bar Kokhba by name.^[14] He also comments on the unity of the global Jewish population and notes some degree of non-Jewish involvement.^[14] His narrative offers important insight into the scale and devastation of the conflict, including the severe losses on both sides.^[14]

Eusebius, a 4th-century Christian bishop and historian from Caesarea Maritima, offers a Late Antique Christian interpretation of the revolt shaped by a theological agenda: depicting Jewish uprisings as divine punishment for the crucifixion of Jesus.^[17] His account is nonetheless significant, as he had access to valuable sources, including the library of Pamphilus, church archives in Aelia Capitolina, the works of earlier Christian writers such as Aristo of Pella and Julius Africanus, and possibly pagan texts.^[18] His version includes key details absent from Dio—whom he likely neither knew nor used as a source^[18]—such as naming Tineius Rufus as the Roman governor of Judaea, identifying Bar Kokhba (as Barchochebas, interpreted as 'son of a star'), and citing Bethar (Beththera) as the site of the final siege.^[19] While shaped by a Christian supersessionist worldview,^[20] Eusebius's geographical proximity, access to now-lost materials, and also possible use of Jewish traditions make his writings an important—if ideologically filtered—source for the revolt.^[19]

The Historia Augusta, a late Roman collection of imperial biographies compiled in the 4th century CE,^[21] devotes only a single sentence to the revolt in its Life of Hadrian, briefly noting one of its possible causes.^[12] This portion of the work is believed to draw on relatively reliable Latin sources from the Severan period (193–235 CE), making it roughly contemporary with Dio's account.^[21]

Rabbinic literature—including the Mishnah, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, and various midrashim (biblical commentaries)—preserves the primary Jewish references to the Bar Kokhba revolt. While these texts were not intended as historical chronicles—most were composed with a focus on Jewish law (halakhah)—they nonetheless contain narrative sections (aggadah) that preserve anecdotes, teachings, legal rulings, and reflections.^[22] Modern scholars regard some of these texts—while often shaped by theological and pedagogical aims—as preserving authentic historical traditions, particularly when corroborated by archaeological or external sources.^[23] Many of the stories associated with the revolt, such as those about Betar's fall, indeed appear in Aggadaic material, particularly in the Babylonian Talmud (e.g., Gittin 55b–58a), Jerusalem Talmud (Taanith iv 8, 68d–69b), and midrashim like Lamentations Rabbah.^[24] These passages provide insight into how the Jewish people experienced and interpreted the events of the time. They include a variety of material—stories, rulings, and anecdotes—that shed light on the revolt and its aftermath.^[22] One of the most distinctive contributions of rabbinic literature is its portrayal of Bar Kokhba: it is the only source to explicitly describe him as a messianic figure and preserves two conflicting accounts of his death.^[25] They also recount Roman executions of sages and religious persecution in the aftermath of the revolt,^[12] expressing both sympathetic and critical perspectives on its leaders and consequences.^[26]

Archaeological discoveries, beginning with finds in 1952, have transformed scholarly understanding of the revolt.^[13] Chief among them are papyri discovered in the Cave of Letters in the Judaean Desert, including legal documents and correspondence between Bar Kokhba and his subordinates.^[12][13] Among roughly 30 surviving texts, three are in Greek, while the rest are in Hebrew and Aramaic.^[27] These documents offer direct insight into the rebels' administration, military organization, religious practices, and internal challenges,^[13][28] though they provide limited information about the military course of the revolt itself.^[28] Additional evidence comes from coins minted by the rebels, which help estimate the revolt's duration and reveal its goals:^[12] the restoration of Jewish independence and the rebuilding of the Temple.^[29]

Between 66 and 73 CE, Judaea was the epicenter of the First Jewish Revolt. The Roman suppression campaign—led first by Vespasian and then by his son, Titus—culminated in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the devastation of Jerusalem, the spiritual and national heart of the Jewish people.^[30] A substantial portion of the Jewish population perished due to warfare, civil strife, famine, disease, and massacres in mixed cities, while many others were captured or displaced.^[31] Despite these devastating losses, Jewish communal life gradually recovered in Judaea,^[32][33] and Jews remained a relative majority in the region.^[34]

In the revolt's aftermath, Judaea underwent administrative restructuring: a senatorial-rank legate was appointed as governor, and Legio X Fretensis, which had taken part in the conquest of Jerusalem, was permanently stationed there, establishing its base amid the city's ruins.^[35] To reinforce control, the regions of Judea and Idumaea were designated as a military zone, administered directly by officers of the legion.^[36] Former soldiers, along with other Roman citizens, established themselves in Judaea.^[37]

In 115 CE, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, a widespread Jewish uprising known as the Diaspora Revolt erupted across the eastern Mediterranean, affecting communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia, and continued until 117. The final stages of this conflict, later known as the Kitos War, appear to have triggered unrest in Judaea as well. During the same decade, Judaea's status was changed again, when it was placed under a proconsul, a higher-ranking official. Around this time, an additional legion, Legio VI Ferrata, was stationed in the province, with its main base at Legio (Kefar Othnai) in the Jezreel Valley.^[38] Efforts to repopulate the region with loyal settlers—including discharged Roman soldiers—aimed to secure the territory but contributed to the alienation of the local Jewish population.^[39]

Ancient sources identify two distinct triggers for the outbreak of the revolt.^[40] Cassius Dio attributes it to Jewish anger over Emperor Hadrian's decision to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony, Aelia Capitolina.^[40][20] The Historia Augusta cites a Roman ban on circumcision, a central Jewish practice, as the immediate cause.^[40] Modern scholarship generally recognizes recognizes a combination of these causes in explaining the outbreak of the revolt.^[41]

In 129–130 AD, Hadrian toured the eastern provinces, promoting Hellenistic culture. The region's non-Jewish population honored him with new city names and festivals.^[42] During his visit of Judaea, he decided to rebuild the destroyed Jerusalem as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina,^[43] after his family name^[d] and in honor of Capitoline Jupiter.^[44] This decision enraged the Jews, extinguishing their hopes of rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple.^[42] The foreign desecration of Jerusalem had previously sparked Jewish revolt in the 160s BCE, when Antiochus IV's spoliation of the Temple led to the Maccabean Revolt.^[45]

The first coin issued at the mint of Aelia Capitolina about 130/132 CE. Reverse: COL[ONIA] AEL[IA] CAPIT[OLINA] COND[ITA] ('The founding of Colonia Aelia Capitolina').

Historians once debated whether the founding of Aelia Capitolina triggered the Bar Kokhba revolt or was imposed afterward as punishment. This debate arose from conflicting accounts in ancient sources. Cassius Dio wrote that Hadrian established Aelia Capitolina on Jerusalem's ruins and erected a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. According to his account, this provoked "a long and serious war, since the Jews objected to having gentiles settled in their city and foreign cults established."^[46][47] In contrast, Eusebius described the colony as a punitive measure,^[48] writing: "when the city had been emptied of the Jewish nation and had suffered the total destruction of its ancient inhabitants, it was colonized by a different race, and the Roman city which subsequently arose changed its name."^[49][20] Later, the discovery of Aelia Capitolina coins at sites abandoned before the revolt and buried with Bar Kokhba coins confirmed Dio's version: the colony was founded before the uprising.^{[50][20][51][e]}

A rabbinic story, seemingly set during Hadrian's reign,^[52] recounts that the Romans initially intended to rebuild the Temple, but a Samaritan dissuaded them by warning that the Jews would rebel once their city was restored.^[53][52][f] The historicity of this account has been questioned, as the motif of a malevolent Samaritan is common in Jewish literature;^[53] it may instead reflect Jewish disappointment that the Romans ultimately did not rebuild the Temple.^[52]

Classicist historian Mary E. Smallwood writes that the foundation of Aelia Capitolina was likely "an attempt to combat resurgent Jewish nationalism" by secularizing the Jewish holy capital.^[55] According to historian Martin Goodman, Hadrian established the colony as a "final solution for Jewish rebelliousness," aiming to permanently erase the city and prevent future uprisings among Jews in Judaea or the diaspora.^[56] The foundation of a Roman colony—rather than a Hellenistic polis—was designed to transplant foreign populations and impose Roman religious practices. While Hadrian founded many cities, this case was unique in that it was "not to flatter but to suppress the natives."^[56]

Another oft-cited cause for the revolt is a possible ban on the Jewish practice of circumcision (Brit milah).^[57] The Historia Augusta claims that Hadrian prohibited the Jews from circumcising their sons (decried as mutilare genitalia,^[58][59] "mutilating the genitals"), and that this edict precipitated the Jewish revolt. The imperial biography states: "in their impetuosity the Jews also began a war, as they had been forbidden to mutilate their genitals."^[60] However, the reliability of this account is questionable—the Historia Augusta was written centuries after the events and is prone to anecdote and error.^[61][62] Scholars have long debated the timing of the ban in relation to the revolt, with some arguing that the ban was introduced during or immediately after the uprising, rather than preceding it.^[63] It is known that in the 140s, and before 155, Antoninus Pius mitigated the ban on circumcision by allowing Jews by birth to circumcise legally, while prohibiting the practice for non-Jews. However, it remains unclear when the original ban was first instituted.^[64]

If the prohibition existed, some scholars suggest Hadrian, as a Hellenist, recognized circumcision as bodily mutilation.^[65] E. Mary Smallwood argues he imposed a universal ban, later relaxed by Antoninus Pius, who is known to have granted Jews an exemption.^[66][67] She cites Talmudic passages implying the ban preceded the revolt, including one where Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus permitted hiding circumcision knives in peril. Other scholars such as Peter Schäfer and Joseph Geiger doubt an antecedent ban, suggesting that Roman laws against genital mutilation were meant to stop the castration of slaves, not Jewish circumcision, and that any prohibition on circumcision may have been imposed after the revolt as retribution.^[68][69][70]

In addition to the immediate causes, broader factors likely contributed to an atmosphere ripe for revolt. One such factor may have been eschatological anticipation: nearly sixty years had passed since the destruction of the Second Temple, and some may have expected divine intervention as the symbolic seventy-year mark approached. This expectation was rooted in the precedent of the Babylonian exile, which ended seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple and culminated in its rebuilding—fulfilling a biblical prophecy attributed to Jeremiah. When redemption failed to materialize, growing frustration may have fueled a readiness to rebel.^[71][72]

Additional factors believed to have contributed to the revolt include changes in administrative law, the growing presence of legally privileged Roman citizens, shifts in agricultural practices from landownership to sharecropping, and the effects of a possible economic downturn.^[41] Rising nationalism, likely intensified by the Diaspora Revolt, also played a role.^[41] Economic hardship following the First Jewish Revolt may have further fueled unrest, as many Jews lost their land to Roman veterans and collaborators, creating a dispossessed class that likely formed a key base of support for Simon bar Kokhba.^[73] His own charismatic leadership is likewise considered a major catalyst for the uprising.^[74]

During the first year of the revolt, the Jewish rebels succeeded in establishing a functioning state, and life in Judaea appears to have continued with relative stability. This is evidenced by land lease agreements from the period involving substantial financial transactions.^[75] At the same time, the revolt disrupted Jewish communities beyond Judaea, as reflected in accounts of individuals fleeing from Zoar in Transjordan to Ein Gedi sometime after 132 CE.^[76] The biblical phrase "House of Israel" may have been employed as a designation for the network of communities under Simon bar Kokhba, as indicated by the term's appearance in two documents from the time of the revolt and in a post-revolt scroll dated to "Year 4 of the Destruction of the House of Israel" (c. 140 CE).^[77]

The revolt was led by Simon bar Kokhba, whose support was likely driven by his personal qualities and abilities, including his charisma.^[78] Revolt-era coins refer to him by the title nasi, meaning "prince."^[79] The rabbinic sages of the time, known as the tannaim, were divided in their views of the uprising—some supported it, while others remained opposed.^[80] According to rabbinic literature, the influential sage Rabbi Akiva, endorsed Bar Kokhba as the messiah,^[81][82] a redeemer expected to restore the Davidic kingdom and usher in an era of peace and prosperity.^[83] However, this view was challenged by the contemporary rabbi Yohanan ben Torta,^[81] who, according to the Jerusalem Talmud, retorted to Akiva, "Grass will grow on your cheeks, and the Messiah will not yet have come!"^[84][85][86]

The name Bar Kokhba does not appear in the Talmud but is found in early ecclesiastical sources.^[87][86] Previously, historians debated whether Bar Kokhba, meaning "son of the star" in Aramaic,^[79] was his original name, with some suggesting that the name Bar Kosiba (meaning "son of disappointment" or "son of lies"^[88] in this interpretation), found in rabbinic texts, was a later, derogatory term.^[81] However, documents discovered in the Judaean Desert in the 1950s revealed that his original name was Simeon ben Kosiba.^[81] The Hebrew or Aramaic^[79] surname ben Kosiba is believed to derive from his place of origin.^[78][g] The title Bar Kokhba was likely bestowed upon him by Rabbi Akiva, based on the "Star Prophecy" found in Numbers 24:17: "A star (kokhav) rises from Jacob."^[81][79]

Seventeen letters discovered in the Judaean Desert offer insight into Bar Kokhba's personality.^[90] The documents portray him as a demanding and involved military leader, personally overseeing matters of discipline and logistics. His uncompromising style is evident in sharp threats and rebukes directed at his subordinate officers.^[91] The letters also reflect a strong sense of religious devotion, including observance of Shabbat and the laws of tithes and offerings.^[91] In one letter, Bar Kokhba instructs his men to procure lulavs (palm branches) and etrogs (citrons) to fulfill the mitzvah of the Four Species during the festival of Sukkot.^[92][91]

Rabbinic literature, reflecting elements of folk memory shaped over the two to three centuries following the revolt, portrays Bar Kokhba as a heroic and fearsome figure of immense strength and severity, whose death could only be brought about by divine intervention.^[93] He is said to have slain large numbers of Roman soldiers by throwing massive catapult stones single-handedly at them.^[94] Rabbinic legend also recounts that he tested his soldiers by requiring them either to sever a finger or to uproot a cedar tree.^[94] However, according to rabbinic traditions, the true strength of the revolt lay not in Bar Kokhba’s physical might, but in the spiritual support of the sages; once that was lost following Bar Kokhba's killing of one of them, the rebellion collapsed.^[95]

Bar Kokhba led a well-organized army structured in a hierarchical system with designated ranks, including a "head of a camp." His letters indicate a clear chain of command, listing figures such as Judah bar Manasse, commander of Kiryath Arabaya, and Johnathan bar Beysayan and Masabala bar Simeon, commanders of Ein Gedi.^[96] These documents also suggest that his forces were composed of devout Jews.^[96] According to rabbinic sources, some 400,000 men were at the disposal of Bar Kokhba at the peak of the rebellion.^[97]

A Bar Kokhba tetradrachm overstruck on a denarius. Obverse: the Jewish Temple facade with the rising star. Reverse: A lulav, the text reads: "to the freedom of Jerusalem"

Obverse: Grapes, the text reads: "year 1 to the redemption of Israel". Reverse: a date palm with two branches of dates; "Eleazar the Priest" (in Hebrew) around

The new independent state minted its own coins. From the first year of the revolt, there are silver tetradrachms featuring the Temple on the obverse with the word "Jerusalem." On the reverse, a lulav and etrog are depicted, along with the inscription "Year One of the Redemption of Israel."^[98][29][h] As in the Maccabean Revolt and the First Jewish Revolt, Hebrew underwent a resurgence, its presence on coins and documents reinforcing its role as a symbol of Jewish nationhood and independence.^[100]

Bar Kokhba is depicted on the coins as "Simeon, Prince of Israel." Coins from the first year also feature the inscription "Eleazar the priest," though the identity of this figure remains uncertain and debated.^[98] Some scholars identify him as Eleazar, Bar Kokhba's uncle, who was executed for seeking negotiations with the Romans, according to rabbinic literature.^[101] Regardless, this suggests that Bar Kokhba may have been preparing for the Temple's reconstruction, appointing a High Priest to officiate once it was restored.^[102] The coins suggest that restoring the Temple and its services was indeed a key goal, as they feature the Temple's facade and other related symbols.^[101]

For coins from the second year and undated coins, additional inscriptions appear, including "For the Freedom of Israel" and "For the Freedom of Jerusalem."^[98]

The exact extent of Bar Kokhba's control remains uncertain.^[101] It is widely agreed that the rebels held all of Judea, including the villages of the Judaean Mountains, the Judaean Desert, and northern parts of the Negev Desert.^[103] Evidence from the distribution of Bar Kokhba coinage suggests that rebel-held territory stretched from the Arad–Beersheba region in the south to areas north of modern Ramallah, reaching westward toward the lowlands near Kiryat Gat and Shoham, and eastward to the western shore of the Dead Sea and the southern Jordan Valley.^[104]

Scholars continue to debate whether the revolt extended beyond this core region. Two main schools of thought have emerged: Maximalists argue that rebel control may have extended beyond Judea, incorporating other parts of the province, including Galilee and the Golan, while minimalists limit rebel control to Judea and its immediate surroundings.^[101] Whether the rebels captured Jerusalem or resumed sacrificial worship on the Temple Mount remains unclear.^[101]

Despite the reference to Jerusalem on Bar Kokhba coins, as of early 2000s, archaeological finds, and the lack of revolt coinage found in Jerusalem, supported the view that the revolt did not capture Jerusalem.^[105] In 2020, the fourth Bar Kokhba minted coin and the first inscribed with the word "Jerusalem" was found in Jerusalem Old City excavations.^[106] Despite this discovery, the Israel Antiques Authority still maintained the opinion that Jerusalem was not taken by the rebels, because more than 22,000 coins Bar Kokhba coins had been found outside Jerusalem but only four were found within the city. The Israel Antiques Authority's archaeologists Moran Hagbi and Dr. Joe Uziel speculated "It is possible that a Roman soldier from the Tenth Legion found the coin during one of the battles across the country and brought it to their camp in Jerusalem as a souvenir."^[107]

Most scholars agree that, unlike its active role in the First Jewish–Roman War, the Galilee—a region with a Jewish majority^[108]—did not participate in the Bar Kokhba revolt, for reasons that remain unclear.^[108] The archaeological record presents a complex picture. Nineteen underground hideout systems were discovered in Galilee.^[109] they closely resemble those associated with Bar Kokhba's forces in Judea. However, a key distinguishing factor is the absence of Bar Kokhba coinage in the Galilean context.^[110] In addition, the survival and continuity of Jewish settlement in Galilee following the suppression of the revolt—unlike in Judea, where Jewish communal life was nearly eradicated—have been interpreted as further indicators that the region either did not join the uprising or was subdued at an early stage.^[111] An alternative hypothesis by Barak Olshanetsky posits that the Galilee may have participated in the early stages of the revolt but withdrew after Bar Kokhba consolidated power around 132–133 CE. He attributes this possible withdrawal to opposition to Bar Kokhba's leadership or ideology.^[108]

Further findings have contributed to scholarly debate. Historian Werner Eck has proposed that a monumental Roman arch unearthed at Tel Shalem in the Upper Jordan Valley, bearing reference to Emperor Hadrian, commemorated a major Roman victory over Bar Kokhba's forces in Galilee.^[112] This view is contested by historian Menahem Mor, who argues instead that the arch marked Hadrian's visit to the region in 130 CE.^[113] He considers a Bar Kokhba-related battle implausible,^[114] citing the lack of revolt coinage and destruction layers, as well as Galilee's geographic and logistical isolation from Judea.^[114] A destruction layer uncovered in the southern synagogue at Hammat Tiberias has been dated to the late first third of the 2nd century CE.^[109] In addition, archaeological excavations at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, near the Sea of Galilee, revealed evidence of destruction that has been dated to the reign of Hadrian, supported by a coin hoard discovered within a destruction layer. This event may correspond either to military activity during the revolt or to earlier unrest associated with the deployment of the Roman Legio VI Ferrata in the region during the 120s CE.^[115][116] Nevertheless, archaeologist Uzi Leibner emphasizes the need for broader excavations before reaching firm conclusions.^[116]

The region of Perea (a Jewish part of Transjordan^[117]) is also thought to have taken part in the revolt, and archaeological evidence suggests that its Jewish settlements were affected during the conflict. Destruction and abandonment layers from early 2nd-century sites such as Tel Abu al-Sarbut (in the Sukkoth Valley), al-Mukhayyat, and Callirrhoe may reflect violence or displacement linked to the revolt.^[118] Additional signs of Roman suppression include a 151 CE papyrus naming a Roman veteran from Meason in Perea—implying land confiscation—and a 2nd-century inscription of the Sixth Legion at As-Salt (Gadara).^[118][i] Moreover, a Roman fortification system in the Jordan Valley, dated to the Bar Kokhba period, appears strategically positioned to target Jewish settlements in northern Perea.^[109]

According to Cassius Dio, the Jewish rebels were aided by "many outside nations," who were eager "for gain."^[121] Menahem Mor suggests that non-Jewish populations in the region may have indeed joined the revolt alongside the Jews, though their numbers are difficult to assess. These participants likely came from the lower classes in Hellenistic cities, motivated by a desire to undermine the Roman-backed aristocracy and improve their own socio-economic conditions.^[121] In contrast to western Samaria, which had a Jewish population involved in the revolt, central Samaria, predominantly Samaritan, appears to have remained uninvolved and largely unaffected.^[122]

Historian Glen Bowersock suggested of linking the Nabateans to the revolt, writing "a greater spread of hostilities than had formerly been thought... the extension of the Jewish revolt into northern Transjordan and an additional reason to consider the spread of local support among Safaitic tribes and even at Gerasa."^[123]

The Bar Kokhba revolt and the establishment of the Bar Kokhba administration likely began in the summer of 132 AD.^[124] Simeon Bar Kokhba's forces waited for Hadrian to leave before launching the uprisings.^[42] Learning from the failures of the First Jewish Revolt, the Jews carefully planned the rebellion.^[125][104] Cassius Dio reports that the insurgents avoided open battle, instead occupying strong natural positions reinforced with underground hiding complexes, allowing them both refuge and concealed movement:

The Jews [...] did not dare try conclusions with the Romans in the open field, but they occupied the advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, in order that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet together unobserved underground; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light.

Jerome also wrote: "And the citizens of Judea came to such distress that they, together with their wives, their children, their gold and their silver, in which they trusted, remained in underground tunnels and deepest caves."^[126][127] Archaeological evidence has confirmed ancient accounts of Jewish preparations for the Bar Kokhba revolt.^[128] Hundreds of underground hideout complexes have been identified across almost every populated area,^[128] with approximately 350 systems mapped within the ruins of 140 Jewish villages as of 2015.^[129] These systems were extensively employed in the Judean Hills, the Judean Desert, and the northern Negev, with smaller concentrations in Galilee, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. Many private houses were outfitted with underground chambers designed to exploit the narrowness of the passages for defensive purposes and ambushes.^[130] The interconnected cave networks served both as refuges for combatants and as shelters for their families.^[131]

Dio also states that the Jews manufactured their own weapons in preparation for the revolt: "The Jews [...] purposely made of poor quality such weapons as they were called upon to furnish, in order that the Romans might reject them and that they themselves might thus have the use of them." However, there is no archaeological evidence to support Dio's claim that the Jews produced defective weapons. In fact, weapons found at sites controlled by the insurgents are identical to those used by the Romans.^[128]

Betar (alternatively Beitar, Bethar, Bether), a town situated at the edge of a mountain range southwest of Jerusalem,^[11] was chosen as the rebels' headquarters due to its strategic proximity to Jerusalem, abundant springs, and defensible position.^[81] Excavations at the site—known today as Tel Betar in Hebrew and Khirbet el-Yehud ("the ruins of the Jews") in Arabic—have revealed fortifications likely built by Bar Kokhba's forces.^[81] Whether these defenses were constructed at the beginning of the revolt or later in the conflict remains uncertain.^[81]

Rome assembled a broad force from multiple provinces to suppress the uprising,^[132] with at least nine legions involved either entirely or through detachments (vexillationes).^[1] Two of these legions—Legio X Fretensis and Legio VI Ferrata—were already stationed in Judaea at the time of the conflict.^[132] They were joined by reinforcements from nearby regions, including Legio III Cyrenaica, which arrived from Bostra in Arabia, and Legio IV Gallica, arriving from Syria.^[132][j] Syria's consular legate, Gaius Poblicius Marcellus, departed his province to lead troops into Judaea, making it likely that other units from Syria were involved as well.^[132][1] Hadrian appointed a tribune from a legion in Pannonia to bring further detachment.^[132] Some scholars propose that Legio XXII Deiotariana, last attested in Egypt in 119 CE, was destroyed during the early phase of the revolt. While its exact fate remains uncertain, its disappearance from Roman military records has been linked by some to the conflict in Judaea.^[2]

Emperor Hadrian dispatched several of his best military commanders to suppress the uprising, foremost among them Sextus Julius Severus, who was transferred from his prestigious post as governor of Britain—an extraordinary move suggesting a state of emergency.^[134] The shift from Britain, a top-tier military command, to Judaea—a relatively minor province—was highly unusual and underscores the gravity of the situation.^[134] Although Dio names only Severus, his use of the plural "generals" implies that multiple senior commanders may have held independent commands, and several received the ornamenta triumphalia, a rare military honor in this period.^[135] Hadrian himself joined the campaign in person for a time, as noted by Cassius Dio.^[42] This is supported by inscriptions describing an Expeditio Iudaica during which the emperor participated.^[132] Additional signs of the emergency include the transfer of marines from the classis Misenensis, a senior fleet of the Roman navy, into Legio X Fretensis, which required granting them Roman citizenship,^[136] and the unusual state-led conscription of soldiers in Italy and the Alpine provinces—regions not typically used for recruitment at that time.^[2]

Some scholars have suggested that Roman operations during the revolt extended as far north as the Galilee. Werner Eck, for example, has proposed—based on the remains of the arch at Tel Shalem—that a major battle occurred in the area, possibly near Kefar Othnai, close to the nearby legionary base.^[112]

After losing many of their strongholds, Bar Kokhba and the remnants of his army withdrew to the fortress of Betar, which subsequently came under siege in the summer of 135. Legio V Macedonica and Legio XI Claudia are said to have taken part in the siege.^[137]

Bar Kokhba and his followers hastily erected a defensive wall around the settlement, using earth fill and reused structures.^[138] To encircle the stronghold, the Romans constructed a siege wall and established two central camps to the south, likely cutting off access to the spring—the site's main water source.^[139] Slingstones and arrowheads found on the fortification wall attest to the fighting at the site, which the Romans stormed without needing a siege ramp.^[139] Many slingstones were quickly hewn by the rebels and stockpiled atop the wall, but not all were used before the battle ended.^[139]

According to Jewish tradition, Betar was breached and destroyed on Tisha B’Av,^[k] the same date commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.^[140][141] After the conquest and slaughter of the defenders, the site was destroyed and never rebuilt.^[139] The Jerusalem Talmud describes the bloodshed at Betar as immense, stating that the Romans "went about slaughtering them until a horse sunk in blood up to its nostrils, and the blood carried away boulders that weighted forty sela until it went four miles into the sea", even though Betar was "forty miles distant from the sea."^[142][143]

Betar's fall effectively marked the end of the Roman campaign in Judea's hill country, though the war continued as Roman forces pursued remaining rebels in other regions.^[104] According to Lamentations Rabbah, Hadrian established three guard posts–in Hammat, Bethlehem, and Kefar Lekitaya—to capture Jewish rebels attempting to flee. He dispatched heralds announcing that Jews in hiding should come out to receive a reward from the emperor. Those who complied were surrounded and killed in the Valley of Beit Rimmon.^{[144][145][l]} According to scholar William Horbury, these guard posts probably marked the boundary of the area surrounding Jerusalem from which Jews were now excluded.^[146]

In the later phases of the revolt, many Jews sought refuge in caves, most of them located on high, nearly inaccessible cliffs in Israel's Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. These were primarily large natural caverns with minimal man-made modifications.^[147][127] Drawing lessons from the First Jewish–Roman War, the rebels believed that hiding in these isolated shelters offered a better chance of survival than engaging in open battles or defending settlements. However, they underestimated the Romans' resolve, as Roman forces ultimately surrounded and blockaded the caves in their campaign for total suppression that continued for months after the fall of Betar.^[104] Some refuge caves show evidence of survivors, while others contain skeletal remains and embedded arrowheads, suggesting that some refugees died from hunger, thirst, or Roman attacks.^[104] Some caves appear to have continued to serve as places of refuge even after the war ended, during the period of post-revolt persecution.^[148]

Archaeological and textual evidence suggest that refugees from various regions of Judea fled to refuge caves during this period. Refugees from Ein Gedi dispersed among multiple sites: small groups fled to the Har Yishai Cave and the Cave of the Pool in Nahal David, while larger groups sought refuge in Nahal Hever, which would later yield some of the most significant archaeological discoveries.^[149] Caves north of Ein Gedi such as Salvadora, the Cave of the Figs, and the Caves of the Spear also likely received residents from the area.^[149] From the Jericho region, inhabitants fled to the caves of Ketef Jericho, while people from Archelais or Phasaelis, and possibly the Jewish toparchy of Aqraba, escaped to Wadi er-Rashash and 'Araq en-Na'asaneh in Wadi Daliyeh.^[149] Refugees from the Herodium area likely sheltered in the el-Masia Cave or Wadi Murabba'at, while those from the southern Hebron Hills appear to have reached the Cave of the Tetradrachm in Nahal Hever, as well as caves in Nahal Ze'elim and Nahal Harduf.^[149]

Historians disagree on the duration of the Roman campaign following the fall of Betar. While some claim further resistance was broken quickly, others argue that pockets of Jewish rebels continued to hide with their families into the winter months of late 135 and possibly even spring 136. By early 136 however, it is clear that the revolt was defeated.^[150] According to archaeologist Boaz Zissu, the conflict continued at least into January 136.^[104] The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 93b) says that Bar Kokhba reigned for a mere two and a half years.

The revolt had catastrophic consequences for the Jewish population in Judaea, resulting in massive loss of life, widespread enslavement, and extensive forced displacement. The scale of devastation surpassed even that of the First Jewish–Roman War, leaving Judea proper in a state of desolation.^{[151][152][153]} Shimon Applebaum estimates that about two-thirds of Judaea's Jewish population died in the revolt.^[154][m] Some scholars characterize these consequences as an act of genocide.^[151][156]

Describing the devastating consequences of the revolt, several decades after its suppression, the Roman historian Cassius Dio (c. 155–235) wrote: "50 of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out, Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate."^[6][7][n] While scholars such as Peter Schäfer have suggested that Dio's figures may be exaggerated, possibly to account for the heavy Roman military losses,^[159][160] recent studies suggest that the numbers could be accurate. In 2003, Cotton described Dio's figures as highly plausible, given accurate Roman census declarations.^[161] In 2021, an ethno-archaeological comparative analysis by Dvir Raviv and Chaim Ben David also supported the accuracy of Dio's figures, concluding that his data represent a "reliable account, which he based on contemporaneous documentation."^[162]

Archaeological evidence indicates that many sites in Judea suffered damage, destruction, or abandonment,^[163] to the extent that Jewish settlement in Judea was almost completely eradicated by the revolt's end.^[164] Literature from the Tannaim, early rabbinic scholars, reflects the devastation, with recurring expressions such as "Who sees the towns of Judaea in their destruction..." and "When Judaea was destroyed, may it soon be rebuilt."^[165] To date, no site in the region has revealed a continuous occupation layer throughout the 2nd century AD.^[163][166] The findings show clear signs of devastation or depopulation within the first few decades of the century, followed by a period of abandonment.^[163][164] When some of these former Jewish settlements were reoccupied in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, the new inhabitants were typically non-Jews, as reflected in their distinct material culture, which differed significantly from that of the earlier Jewish population.^[163]

Jewish survivors faced harsh punitive measures from the Romans, who often used social engineering to stabilize conflict zones.^[167] In the aftermath of the war, Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and a broad surrounding area, encompassing nearly the entire traditional district of Judea.^[168][o] The Romans proceeded with the construction of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem and barred Jews from entering, except once a year on the day of Tisha B'Av.^[171] According to Jerome, Hadrian "commanded that by a legal decree and ordinances the whole nation should be absolutely prevented from entering from thenceforth even the district round Jerusalem, so that it could not even see from a distance its ancestral home." Similarly, Jerome writes that Jews were only allowed to visit the city to mourn its ruins, paying for the privilege.^[172]

Eusebius writes: "[...] all the families of the Jewish nation have suffered pain worthy of wailing and lamentation because God's hand has struck them, delivering their mother-city over to strange nations, laying their Temple low, and driving them from their country, to serve their enemies in a hostile land."^[173] Jerome provides a similar account: "in Hadrian's reign, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the Jewish nation was massacred in large groups at a time, with the result that they were even expelled from the borders of Judaea."^[174] Dialogue with Trypho, a 2nd-century Christian apologetic text by Justin Martyr, presents a theological dialogue with a Jewish fugitive from the Bar Kokhba revolt, then residing in Corinth, Greece.^[175]

Roman policy also involved the mass enslavement and deportation of Jewish captives, a practice also observed after the revolt of the Salassi (25 BC), the wars with the Raeti (15 BC), and the Pannonian War (c. 12 BC).^[167] William V. Harris estimates that more than 100,000 Jews were enslaved.^[176] The slave market was reportedly flooded with Jewish captives, who were sold into slavery and dispersed across the empire,^[177] significantly expanding the Jewish diaspora.^[178] The 7th-century Chronicon Paschale, drawing on earlier sources, states that Hadrian sold Jewish captives "for the price of a daily portion of food for a horse."^[167] Jerome reports that following the war, "innumerable people of diverse ages and both sexes were sold at the marketplace of Terebinthus," adding that "For this reason it is an accursed thing among the Jews to visit this acclaimed marketplace".^[179] In another work, he notes that thousands were sold there.^[167] Those not sold were transported to Gaza for auction, while many others were relocated to Egypt and other regions.^[178] Jerome also mentions Jewish captives settled by Hadrian in the Cimmerian Bosporus.^[180][181] The suppression of the revolt and the ensuing harsh conditions led to a large influx of refugees, some of whom settled in Babylonia, contributing to its spiritual growth in the following centuries.^[182]

Following the revolt, Hadrian implemented a series of harsh religious decrees aimed at dismantling Jewish nationalism in Judaea,^{[183][166][p]} the first such measures since the decrees of Antiochus IV in the 160s BC.^[185] These included the outlawing of Torah study, the Hebrew calendar, and other core expressions of Jewish religious life. Jewish scholars were executed, and sacred texts were publicly burned. Hadrian further desecrated the ruins of the Temple by erecting statues of Jupiter and himself on the site. These measures remained in force until his death in 138 AD, after which conditions eased somewhat,^[166][186] though Jews continued to be banned from entering Jerusalem, with the sole exception of visits on Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning for the Temple's destruction.^[187]

This period of repression left a profound impact on rabbinic memory, later referred to in tradition as a time of shemad (שְׁמָד‎), meaning "destruction" or "desolation."^[153] Rabbinic texts attach a curse to Hadrian's name—"May his bones rot!".^[188] The Tosefta states that Rabbi Ishmael, a 2nd-century sage, likened the decrees to a second destruction, describing them as an effort to "uproot the Torah" from among the Jews.^[189][190] The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, a midrashic work, presents the edicts:

R. Nathan says: Of them that love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:6) – This refers to those who dwell in the land of Israel and risk their lives for the sake of the commandments: "Why are you being led out to be decapitated?" "Because I circumcised my son to be an Israelite." "Why are you being led out to be burnt?" "Because I read the Torah". "Why are you being led out to be crucified?" "Because I ate unleavened bread". "Why are you getting a hundred lashes?" "Because I performed the ceremony of the lulav".^[191]

The Jewish response included both covert observance and open defiance, with some choosing martyrdom—a pattern that would reappear in later episodes of Jewish history.^[192] According to rabbinic literature, Rabbi Akiva, one of the most revered figures in Jewish tradition, was arrested for studying the Torah and flayed with iron combs while reciting the Shema, Judaism's central declaration of faith.^[193][194] Rabbi Judah ben Baba was executed after ordaining new rabbis in secret,^[195][194] while Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai reportedly went into hiding in a cave with his son for several years to escape execution.^[188] These events are remembered not only in halakhic literature but also in midrashic texts and liturgical poetry, particularly in the stories of the Ten Martyrs, which became emblematic of Jewish martyrdom and resistance to religious persecution.^[184]

According to a rabbinic midrash, the Romans executed eight leading members of the Sanhedrin (the list of Ten Martyrs includes two earlier rabbis): Rabbi Akiva; Haninah ben Teradion; the interpreter of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Huspith; Eleazar ben Shammua; Hanina ben Hakinai; Jeshbab the Scribe; Judah ben Dama; and Judah ben Bava. The date of Akiva's execution is disputed, some dating it to the beginning of the revolt based on the midrash, while others link it to final phases. The rabbinic account describes agonizing tortures: Akiva was flayed with iron combs, Ishmael had the skin of his head pulled off slowly, and Haninah was burned at a stake, with wet wool held by a Torah scroll wrapped around his body to prolong his death.

Following the revolt, the Romans appear to have confiscated land that had either reverted to Jewish control during the inter-revolt period or had been appropriated by the Bar Kokhba state.^[196] This policy, echoing measures taken by Vespasian after the First Revolt, is suggested by Eusebius' reference to the "enslavement" of Jewish territory in the uprising's aftermath.^[197][196] Rabbinic literature also refers to "Hadrian's vineyard," a vineyard in Galilee said to stretch from Tiberias to Sepphoris, its boundaries marked by the bodies of Jews killed at Betar.^[198][196] E. Mary Smallwood suggests that this story may symbolize widespread land confiscations and the establishment of Roman estates in the region following the revolt.^[196]

Artistic, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence from post-revolt Judea indicates that the Roman authorities resettled the region with a diverse population. This included army veterans and immigrants from the western parts of the empire, who settled in Aelia Capitolina and its surroundings, administrative centers, and along main roads. Additionally, immigrants from the coastal plain and neighboring provinces such as Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia settled in the Judean countryside.^{[199][200][201]} This pagan population later gradually adopted Christianity, contributing to its rise in the area during late antiquity.^[202] One of the primary groups that benefited from the Jewish decline was the Samaritans. Capitalizing on the depopulation of Jewish areas, they expanded from Samaria into northern Judea, the coastal plain, and the Beit She'an Valley. This is reflected in a saying attributed to Abbahu in the Jerusalem Talmud, according to which thirteen towns were settled by the Samaritans during the period of anti-Jewish persecutions.^{[203][204][q]}

In the vicinity of Jerusalem, villages were depopulated, and arable land owned by Jews was confiscated. In the following centuries, the lack of an alternative population to fill the empty villages led Roman and later Byzantine authorities to seek a different approach to benefit the nobles, and ultimately the church, by constructing estate farms and monasteries on the empty village lands.^[206] The Roman legionary tomb at Manahat, the ruins of Roman villas at Ein Yael, Khirbet er-Ras, Rephaim Valley and Ramat Rachel, and the Tenth Legion's kilns discovered near Giv'at Ram are all indications that the rural area surrounding Aelia Capitolina underwent a romanization process, with Roman citizens and Roman veterans settling in the area during the Late Roman period.^[207] Indications for the settlement of Roman veterans in other parts of Judea proper includes a magnificent marble sarcophagus showing Dionysus discovered in Turmus Ayya, Latin-inscribed stone discovered at Khirbet Tibnah, a statue of Minerva discovered at Khirbat al-Mafjar, a tomb of a centurion at Beit Nattif and a Roman mansion with western elements discovered at Arak el-Khala, near Beit Guvrin.^[199]

In Perea, a Roman military presence in the middle of the 2nd century suggests that the Jews there were also victims of the revolt. The name of a Roman veteran from the village of Meason in Perea appears on a papyrus that was signed in Caesarea in 151, implying that lands there had been expropriated and given to Roman settlers. A building inscription of the Sixth Legion from the 2nd century was discovered at as-Salt, which is identified as Gadara, one of the principal Jewish settlements in Perea, and provides more proof of the Roman military presence there.^[164]

A further and more enduring punishment was implemented by the Romans following the revolt.^[166] In an effort to erase the memory of Judea and Ancient Israel, the province of Judaea—whose name carried a clear ethnic association with the Jews, being derived from the Latin Iudaei^[208]—was officially renamed Syria Palaestina.^{[209][210][123]} This act was intended to sever the region's historical association with the Jewish people.^[211][209] Although the Romans often renamed provinces, this instance is notable as the only recorded case in which a province's name was changed specifically in response to a rebellion—a measure not taken after revolts in provinces such as Britannia or Germania.^[212][208] Historian Seth Schwartz writes that the name was intended to "celebrate the de-Judaization of the province."^[168] Historian Werner Eck rejects the possibility that the new name reflected demographic changes following the reduction of the Jewish population—noting that a similar case in the history of Pannonia did not lead to a name change—and argues instead that it was exceptionally intended as a punishment directed against the Jews.^[208]

While the Jewish presence in the region declined significantly following the revolt,^[213] a smaller yet continuous population remained. Galilee—less affected by the war^[165]—emerged as the new demographic and religious center of Jewish life.^{[153][214][215]} This period saw renewed Jewish migration to the area, which had already experienced a similar influx after the First Jewish–Roman War.^[216] In the following centuries, Galilee became a major center of Jewish leadership and cultural activity, where foundational texts such as the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE.^[217]

Rabbinic literature describes how, when persecution eased, scholars gathered in the Beth Rimon Valley in Galilee, and Usha became a seat of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin later relocated to other cities, including Beth She'arim and Sepphoris, before eventually settling in Tiberias as its main center.^[218] Some Judean survivors resettled in Galilee and coastal cities,^[219][220] with some rabbinical families gathering in Sepphoris.^[220] Jewish communities also persisted on the periphery of Judea, in places such as Lod,^[153] Eleutheropolis, Ein Gedi, and the southern Hebron Hills,^[148] as well as on the coastal plain (including Caesarea), Beit She'an, and the Golan Heights.^[221][222]

Roman casualties were heavy; Legio X Fretensis sustained heavy casualties during the revolt,^[5] and Legio XXII Deiotariana was disbanded following the revolt, perhaps because of serious losses.^[223][2] Cassius Dio notes that "Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war," so much that Hadrian, in reporting to the Roman Senate, omitted the customary greeting: "I and the army are in health,"^[224] — an admission that things were not entirely well. Some argue that the exceptional number of preserved Roman veteran diplomas from the late 150s and 160s indicate an unprecedented conscription across the Roman Empire to replenish heavy losses within military legions and auxiliary units between 133 and 135, corresponding to the revolt.^[225]

Some historians argue that Legio IX Hispana's disbandment in the mid-2nd century could have also been a result of this war.^[226] Previously it had generally been accepted that the Ninth disappeared around 108, possibly suffering its demise in Britain, according to German historian Theodor Mommsen; but archaeological findings in 2015 from Nijmegen dated to 121 contain the known inscriptions of two senior officers who were deputy commanders of the Ninth in 120 and lived on for several decades to lead distinguished public careers. It was concluded that the legion was disbanded between 120 and 197, either as a result of fighting the Bar Kokhba revolt, or in Cappadocia (161), or at the Danube (162).^{[227][unreliable source?]}

The Roman suppression of the revolt led to a lasting internalization of imperial dominance among Jews, with political expression adapting to the permanence of Roman rule.^[153] Rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious and conservative, with Jewish belief in the messiah becoming abstracted and spiritualized.^{[citation needed]} Doron Mendels suggested that after the revolt, Jewish nationalism in its activist form—meaning large-scale, organized efforts to establish a Jewish state—ceased. However, a passive nationalist sentiment persisted; in rabbinic circles, the aspiration for Jewish sovereignty remained alive, but did not lead to another full-scale revolt or political military movement.^[228] David Goodblatt argued that Jewish nationalism did not fall after the revolt, only its political and activist expressions ceased with the loss of Jewish statehood. He noted that Jewish national identity persisted through culture, law, language and religious traditions, even in the absence of a state. While institutions like the Temple, kingship and territorial control declined, they survived in Jewish thought, messianic hopes, and communal memory.^[229]

Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Christians were killed and suffered "all kinds of persecutions" at the hands of rebel Jews when they refused to help Bar Kokhba against the Roman troops.^{[230][231][232]} Although Christians regarded Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba,^[233] they were barred from Jerusalem along with the Jews.^[234] The outcome of the Bar Kokhba revolt reinforced the Christian interpretation that the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD signified divine punishment, making it a key argument in anti-Jewish polemics.^[235] For Eusebius, the suppression of the revolt marked the definitive end of Jewish Christianity. According to his account, from this point, the line of circumcised bishops of Hebrew ancestry leading the Jerusalem church ended,^[236] and leadership passed to gentile bishops, as Jerusalem became part of the Church's universal mission.^[237] For Justin Martyr, the Jewish defeat in the revolt was a divine confirmation that Jerusalem's devastation was both valid and final. He saw the revolt's outcome as evidence that the covenant between God and the Jewish people, and the Temple cult, had been brought to a definite end.^[238] In Dialogue with Trypho, written after the revolt, he presented Jewish circumcision not merely as obsolete, but as a mark of divine punishment. He argues it was instituted that Jews would "suffer that which you now justly suffer," associating the practice with the devastation of their land, the burning of cities, the loss of produce to foreigners, and, in reference to Hadrian's decree, the prohibition against entering Jerusalem.^[239]

Following the revolt, the Hebrew language largely disappeared from daily use.^[240] Prior to the uprising, Hebrew was still spoken as a living language by a significant portion of the Jewish population in the region of Judea. However, by the 3rd century CE, sages were no longer able to identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah. Only a small number of sages in the southern regions continued to speak Hebrew. The Jerusalem Talmud and classical midrashic literature—where most narratives appear in Aramaic—indicate that Hebrew had become primarily a literary and formal language.^[240]

Relations between the Jews in the region and the Roman Empire remained complicated. These relations reached a peak under the Severan dynasty (193–235 AD).^[241] During much of this period, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, who was regarded as a descendant of David, served as the patriarch of the Jewish community. This era was marked by economic and political prosperity.^[242] Rabbinic literature records cordial relations between the patriarch's household and the imperial family, with evidence of synagogues dedicated to members of the dynasty.^[241] It was also during this time that the Mishnah was redacted.^[243]

However, the situation later worsened. The third century was marked by instability, anarchy, and economic hardship.^[244] Following this, the rise of Christianity, officially recognized by Constantine in 313, shifted Jewish–Roman relations and led to anti-Jewish imperial legislation.^[245] In 351–352, the Jews of Galilee launched another revolt, provoking severe retribution.^[246] Relations briefly improved under Emperor Julian, who, unlike his predecessors, opposed Christianity. In 363, he ordered the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as part of his religious pluralism effort. However, Julian was killed later that same year, and the project came to an end.^[247] By the early 5th century, the patriarchate was abolished, leading to the loss of centralized Jewish leadership.^[248] The period also saw attacks on Jews and synagogue burnings by fanatic monks such as Barsauma and his followers.^[249] In 438, when the Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site, the heads of the community in Galilee issued a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews" which began: "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come!" However, the Christian population of the city saw this as a threat to their primacy, and a riot erupted which chased Jews from the city.^[250][251]

During the 5th and 6th centuries, a series of Samaritan revolts broke out across Palaestina Prima. Especially violent were the third and the fourth revolts, which resulted in near annihilation of the Samaritan community.^[252] It is likely that the Samaritan revolt of 556 was joined by the Jewish community, which had also suffered brutal suppression of their religion under Emperor Justinian.^{[253][254][255]} In the belief of restoration to come, in the early 7th century the Jews made an alliance with the Sasanian Empire, joining the invasion of Palaestina Prima in 614 to overwhelm the Byzantine garrison, and briefly gained autonomy in Jerusalem.^[256] This autonomy ended with the persecution of Jews, their expulsion from Jerusalem, and the killing or fleeing of many.^[249]

Archaeological excavations in Judea have revealed widespread destruction layers and abandonment deposits dating to the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt, pointing to the near-total destruction of Jewish settlement in the region.^[117] These layers have been found in both above-ground structures and underground installations, including hiding complexes, burial caves, and storage facilities. In many sites, the destruction layers are followed by a gap in settlement, indicating a prolonged disruption of habitation. While the evidence is strongest in Judea, additional, though limited, signs of destruction and abandonment have also been identified in Transjordan and the Galilee.^[117]

Excavations at archaeological sites such as Horvat 'Ethri^[257] and Khirbet Badd ‘Isa have demonstrated that these Jewish villages were destroyed in the revolt, and were only resettled by pagan populations in the 3rd century.^[258][259] Discoveries from towns like Gophna, known to be Jewish before the revolt, demonstrate that pagans of Hellenistic and Roman culture lived there during the Late Roman period.^[260] In Horvat 'Ethri, a mass grave was discovered within a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh), and one of the individuals exhibited cut marks consistent with beheading by sword.^[261]

Herodium was excavated by archaeologist Ehud Netzer in the 1980s, publishing results in 1985. According to findings, during the later Bar-Kokhba revolt, complex tunnels were dug, connecting the earlier cisterns with one another.^[262] These led from the Herodium fortress to hidden openings, which allowed surprise attacks on Roman units besieging the hill.

The ruins of Betar (near the modern Palestinian village of Battir, which preserves the ancient name) have yielded archaeological evidence of the Roman siege, including fortifications and weaponry.^[139] The site has not been systematically excavated, but limited work by archaeologist David Ussishkin in 1984^[263][264]—prompted by antiquities looting and modern construction^[139]—revealed a hastily built fortification wall and a semi-circular buttress, interpreted as signs of urgent military preparations.^[264] Two Roman siege camps were identified south of the site; the larger was almost entirely destroyed by construction beginning in the 1960s.^[265] Artifacts from the site include slingstones, arrowheads of a type known from Bar Kokhba-era contexts in the Judaean Desert, and pottery dating to the first and second centuries CE.^[266] A concentration of 22 slingstones was found in situ on a tower roof, and their crude manufacture suggests they were produced quickly during the siege.^[139] In addition, a stone inscription bearing Latin characters, discovered near the site, indicates that the Fifth Macedonian Legion and the Eleventh Claudian Legion took part in the assault.^[267] No post-revolt occupation layers were identified, suggesting the site was abandoned following the Roman assault.^[266]

The Bar Kokhba revolt has been better understood thanks to the discovery of artificially carved hiding complexes under many sites across Judea, and on a lesser level in the Lower Galilee. Their discovery is consistent with Cassius Dio's writings, which reported that the rebels used underground networks as part of their tactics to avoid direct confrontations with the Romans. Many were hewn in earlier times and were utilized by rebels during the revolt as indicated by the usage of the coinage produced by Bar Kokhba and other archaeological findings.^[147][268]

Hiding complexes were found at more than 130 archaeological sites in Judea; most of them in the Judaean Lowlands, but also in the Judaean Mountains, and some also in Galilee.^[147][269] Examples include: Hurvat Midras, Tel Goded, Maresha, Aboud and others.

During the final phase of the Bar Kokhba revolt, many Jewish rebels and civilians sought refuge in natural caves. More than 30 such caves have been identified, extending geographically from Wadi er-Rashash and Naḥal Shillo in the north to Naḥal Qina and Yahel, south of Arad, and distributed across three primary north–south zones: the eastern escarpment near the Dead Sea, the central desert plateau and ravines, and the western Judaean Mountains.^[104][270] Excavations have uncovered a wide range of materials, well preserved due to the dry climate of the area,^[104] including written records that shed light on the revolt as well as the period's language, culture, and legal practices.^[79] Personal belongings such as property deeds, household keys, and luxury items suggest the refugees intended to return. Additional finds—pottery, textiles, glassware, wooden artifacts, leather sandals, and food remains—offer insight into aspects of daily life. In some cases, Roman forces besieged the caves by blocking escape routes from above, leading to the starvation of those trapped inside.^[271]

The caves found at Nahal Hever, a canyon near the Dead Sea, are particularly notable for archaeological findings found there.^[211] Among them is the so-called Cave of Horrors, named for the dozens of human skeletons discovered within, including children and infants—some of whose remains still preserved traces of hair, skin, and tendons.^[272][273] The cave also yielded Bar Kokhba revolt coinage,^[274][275] Hebrew ostraca bearing personal names,^[276][277] and manuscript fragments in Hebrew and Greek, including portions of the Minor Prophets.^[278][277] The nearby Cave of Letters emerged as one of the most important archaeological discoveries related to the revolt. Excavated in 1960–1961, it contained a trove of documents often dubbed the "Bar Kokhba archive,"^[279] including personal correspondence and administrative records from Bar Kokhba and his followers. These texts, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, have been interpreted as evidence of a multilingual population or the possible presence of non-Jewish auxiliaries among the rebel forces.^[280] Among the most poignant finds was the archive of Babatha, a Jewish woman from the region south of the Dead Sea. Her cache of 35 legal documents, including a marriage contract, property deeds, and guardianship papers, suggests she fled with hopes of survival but likely died in the cave.^[211]

Another significant refuge cave linked to the Bar Kokhba revolt is the Cave of the Swords, located near the Ein Gedi oasis. During excavations in 2023, archaeologists uncovered a hidden cache of Roman weaponry, including a pilum head and four iron swords, three of them still preserved in wooden scabbards with metal and leather fittings.^[281] The typology of the swords, including Pompeii-type spathae and a ring-pommel sword, suggests a 2nd-century CE context. A bronze Bar Kokhba coin inscribed "for the freedom of Jerusalem," found at the cave's entrance, supports dating the cache to the revolt. Scholars believe the weapons were likely captured from Roman soldiers and hidden by Jewish rebels for future use.^[282]

As of 2023, 24 coins from the Bar Kokhba revolt have been found outside Judaea, in European provinces such as Britannia, Pannonia, Dacia, and Dalmatia. Most were discovered near Roman legionary and auxiliary camps, though not strictly in military contexts, and may have been brought by Roman soldiers involved in the revolt as souvenirs or by Jewish captives, slaves, or migrants who reached these areas afterward.^{[283][284][285]}

Bar Kokhba coins have been discovered in hoards throughout Judea, reflecting a phenomenon also described in a baraita (an early rabbinic tradition preserved outside the Mishnah). Jews who hid these coins were later unable to recover them due to the presence of Roman garrisons, their deaths during the revolt's suppression, or the widespread destruction that obscured the hiding places. Over thirty such hoards have been found, more than from any other decade.^[286]

Archaeological discoveries at Tel Shalem, a site in the upper Jordan Valley near Scythopolis and Pella, have led researchers to identify it as a Roman fort active around the time of the revolt, possibly involved in it.^[287] The remains include a cuirassed bronze statue of Hadrian and a Latin inscription referencing a detachment of Legio VI Ferrata, suggesting the legion was stationed there during that period.^[288] In 1977, a monumental Latin inscription dedicated to Hadrian was found reused in nearby Late Antique graves; Its scale, epigraphic features, and layout suggest it once belonged to a triumphal arch.^[113][289] Gideon Foerster and Werner Eck have proposed that the inscription came from an arch erected by the Senate following the Bar Kokhba revolt, with its location—well north of the revolt's epicenter in Betar—possibly reflecting a Roman victory in the Galilee region.^[290][289] However, this interpretation is disputed, and alternative explanations have been proposed.^[113][r]

In the aftermath of the revolt, rabbinic Judaism moved away from the active and militant strands of messianic belief that had characterized earlier periods.^[291] Tannaitic sources such as the Mishnah and Tosefta emphasized halakhic observance as the primary path to religious fulfillment, prioritizing the sanctification of daily life over expectations of immediate salvation.^[292] Belief in a future messianic restoration—such as the rebuilding of the Temple and the return of the Davidic monarchy—remained part of rabbinic thought, but was no longer linked to revolutionary action.^[292]

This shift was also reflected in rabbinic teachings that discouraged rebellion. As stated by Rabbi Jose ben Kisma in the Babylonian Talmud, "This nation [Rome] has been given reign by [a decree from] Heaven";^[293][294] Moreover, according to the Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, one is obligated to show honor to the ruling power.^[295][294] From this perspective, messianism was transformed into an eschatological vision—an expectation of redemption in the end of days—removed from immediate political action.^[296] This offered religious continuity and stability in a period marked by loss and exile.^[291] However, apocalyptic and visionary strands of messianism were not extinguished entirely; they resurfaced in the later amoraic period, especially in Babylonia, suggesting that these hopes continued to circulate despite earlier efforts to suppress them.^[297]

In rabbinic traditions developed in the centuries after the revolt, Bar Kokhba was portrayed as a powerful figure whose downfall came from pride and losing divine favor.^[298] Although rabbinic legends described him as possessing superhuman strength, they stressed that the revolt's real strength came from the spiritual backing of the sages.^[298] His death—and the defeat of the revolt—was seen as a consequence of arrogance, interpreted through a moral lens of sin and punishment, similar to the concept of hybris in Greek thought.^[298]

Talmudic tradition attributes Betar's fall to a Samaritan who acted as a fifth column and sowed discord between Bar Kokhba and his maternal uncle, Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im. Bar Kokhba suspected Eleazar of collaborating with the enemy and killed him with a single kick. This act forfeited divine protection, and shortly thereafter, Betar was captured and Bar Kokhba was killed.^[299][94] According to one rabbinic legend, found in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, Bar Kokhba was executed by the sages after failing to meet the messianic expectation of judging "by scent" as described in Isaiah 11:3–4,^[25][300] however, this account is generally regarded by scholars as legendary rather than historical.^[300] One rabbinic legend, found in Midrash Tanhuma, describes Hadrian as declaring himself a god after conquering Jerusalem, destroying the Temple, and exiling the people of Israel.^[301][155]

The defeat of the Bar Kokhba revolt is portrayed in rabbinic literature as divinely decreed.^[302] In Midrash Tanhuma, when Hadrian boasts of his conquest, he is answered: "If it had not been [ordained] from the heavens, you would not have conquered. [...] now because of our sins, you have prevailed against us."^[303][302] According to Lamentations Rabbah, when Bar Kokhba's body was shown to Hadrian, the emperor ordered that the rest of the body be brought forward. It was discovered with a snake coiled around his neck, leading Hadrian to state: "If his God had not slain him, who could have overcome him?"^[304][141] Another example appears in Sifrei Devarim 323, which recounts a Roman decurio (a commander of ten horsemen) chasing a Jew in Judea. A serpent wrapped around the Jew’s ankle but did not harm him. The Jew then called out: "Do not say to yourself "We are strong and they are weak." (But say to yourself: This [our subjugation of the Jews] could not have happened) "if their Rock had not sold them, and the L-rd had not delivered them (into our hands)."^[305][302] Rabbinic sources also associate the destruction of towns and villages during the revolt with transgressions of Jewish law. One passage states: "Why were they [Tur Shimon] destroyed? If you say it was because of the prostitutes, [...] Rabbi Huna said: It is because they would play ball on Shabbat. There were ten thousand towns on the King's Mountain. [...] Three of those towns, Kavul, Shiḥin, and Magdela, [...] Why were they destroyed? Kavul, due to strife; Shiḥin, due to sorcery; Magdela, due to prostitution."^[306][302]

The fast day of Tisha B'Av, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples—as reflected in a Tannaitic tradition attributed to Rabbi Akiva identifying both events as occurring on this date—was expanded in the Mishnah to include tragedies from the Bar Kokhba revolt: "Beitar was captured and the city (Jerusalem) was ploughed."^[307][308] Another passage in the Mishnah presents the three Jewish revolts as a sequence of national defeats, each leading to added mourning practices in the context of weddings; it states that "in the final war, they forbade brides to ride in a litter inside the city."^[309][308]

Two Sephardic Jewish families, Rodriguez and Gradis, are traditionally said to have emigrated from Judaea to the Iberian Peninsula following the Bar Kokhba revolt, settling first in Portugal and later moving to Spain.^[310]

In modern Israeli culture, the Bar Kokhba revolt was recast into a national symbol of Jewish heroism.^[311] The Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer was reinterpreted within secular Zionist tradition to commemorate Bar Kokhba's successes in the revolt, replacing earlier associations with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and introducing customs like bonfire lighting and playing with bows and arrows.^[312] A popular legend portraying Bar Kokhba taming a lion in a Roman arena—first introduced in a 1905 novel by Israel Benjamin Levner and later adapted into a popular children's song by Levin Kipnis—became a fixture of Lag baOmer celebrations, featured in school programs and holiday festivities.^[313]

In the early 1980s, a public debate over the legacy of the Bar Kokhba revolt emerged in Israel, sparked by a critical reassessment by Yehoshafat Harkabi, a professor of international relations. Harkabi questioned both the strategic rationale of the revolt and its modern commemoration, arguing that the rebels' excessive zeal and disregard for geopolitical realities led to devastation second only to the Holocaust.^[315] His critique provoked strong rebuttals from scholars such as Israel Eldad and David Rokeah, who maintained that the revolt should be remembered for its ideals and courage, rather than judged solely by its outcome.^[315]

Since the late 20th century, Israeli educational materials have taken a more critical and historically grounded approach to the revolt. Recent curricula encourage students to examine the differing views among Jews at the time—both supporters and opponents of the rebellion. Some programs use Lag BaOmer, which remains the main commemorative event for the revolt among secular Israeli Jews, to teach broader values such as mutual respect and tolerance, drawing from the rabbinic tradition in which Rabbi Akiva's students were said to have died due to a lack of mutual respect. Other programs integrate archaeological findings and historical analysis.^[316]

• History of the Jews in the Roman Empire
• Jewish revolt against Heraclius, 614–617/625
• List of conflicts in the Near East
• Sicaricon (Jewish law)

• Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Leuterbach, Jacob. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 2004. pp. 324–325.

• Aharoni, Yohanan; Avi-Yonah, Michael (1968). The MacMillan Bible Atlas (Revised ed.). Jerusalem: Carta Ltd. (published 1977). pp. 164–165.
• Yadin, Yigael (1971). Bar-Kokhba: The Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero of the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-47184-9.
• Yadin, Yigael (1971). Bar-Kokhba: The Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero of the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-00345-3.
• The Documents from the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters. Judean Desert Studies. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. 1963–2002.
  • Lewis, Naphtali; Yadin, Yigael; Greenfield, Jonas C., eds. (2002). Greek Papyri; Aramaic and Nabatean Signatures and Subscriptions. Vol. 2. Israel Exploration Society. ISBN 9652210099.
  • Yadin, Yigael; Greenfield, Jonas C.; Yardeni, Ada; Levine, Baruch A., eds. (2002). Hebrew, Aramaic and Nabatean–Aramaic Papyri. Vol. 3. Israel Exploration Society. ISBN 9652210463.

• Wars between the Jews and Romans: Simon ben Kosiba (130–136 CE), with English translations of sources.
• Photographs from Yadin's book Bar Kokhba
• Archaeologists find tunnels from Jewish revolt against Romans by the Associated Press. Haaretz, March 13, 2006
• "Bar Kokba and Bar Kokba War" – The Jewish Encyclopedia