Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest Empire

Historian Strauss (emeritus, Cornell Univ.; The War That Made the Roman Empire) hits another home run with this thorough account of the tumultuous relations between Rome and its most contentious subjects, the Jews, in ancient times, tracing it across two centuries, from Pompey’s conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BCE through the last great revolt in 132–136 CE. Why were the Jews such persistent rebels, resisting more persistently than other Roman subjects? Strauss argues convincingly that it was because they believed Jerusalem was God’s kingdom, never the Romans’; had a messianic tradition that provided charismatic leaders; and put their faith in connections with Parthia, Rome’s strongest rival in the East, hoping for support the the region could never openly give them. The consequence was an unprecedented two centuries of violence and revolution that, by the end, left thousands of Jews dead or enslaved, the Temple flattened, and cities and towns vanished. A singular virtue is Strauss’s command of historical documents. He is an expert at extracting intelligible meaning from partial or misleading evidence—notably, the slippery writings of Jewish historian and turncoat Flavius Josephus.