Bar Kokhba revolt and the renaming of Judaea to Syria Palaestina
- Date
- 132–135 CE
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Judaea (Roman province)
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE) was the last and most devastating of the three great Jewish uprisings against Rome. Led by Simon bar Kokhba, hailed by some as a messianic figure, the rebels established a short-lived independent Jewish polity in Judaea, minting their own coins.
Ancient sources attribute the revolt to the emperor Hadrian's plan to rebuild Jerusalem as the pagan colony Aelia Capitolina and, according to one tradition, a ban on circumcision. Rome committed large forces under Sextus Julius Severus and crushed the rebellion after fierce fighting, with Cassius Dio reporting catastrophic casualties and the destruction of hundreds of villages. In the aftermath Judaea proper was largely depopulated through killing, enslavement and displacement; Jews were barred from Jerusalem, now refounded as Aelia Capitolina, and Hadrian renamed the province Syria Palaestina. The failure of the revolt deepened the Jewish diaspora and reoriented Judaism toward the rabbinic tradition centred on study and law rather than Temple and territory, with consequences lasting into the modern era.
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Empires active in 132–135 CE
- Roman Empire27 BCE – 476 CE
- Han Dynasty202 BCE – 220 CE
- Kingdom of Funan50 CE – 550 CE
- Zapotec State of Monte Albán500 BCE – 800 CE
- Kushan Empire30 CE – 375 CE
- Parthian Empire247 BCE – 224 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Roman Empire reaches its greatest territorial extent under Trajan117 CE
- Battle of Actium ends the Hellenistic age2 September 31 BCE
- Yellow Turban Rebellion weakens the Han184 CE
- Battle of the Teutoburg Forest halts Roman expansion in GermaniaSeptember 9 CE
- Shapur I captures Emperor Valerian at the Battle of Edessa260 CE
- Caesar's Gallic Wars and the Siege of Alesia58–50 BCE (Alesia 52 BCE)
Further reading
The wider story
Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry
Popular narrative of Rome's long duel with Parthia and Persia.
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