Diaspora Revolt

Diaspora Revolt Second Jewish–Roman War
Part of the Jewish–Roman wars
Provinces of the Roman Empire involved in the Diaspora Revolt (117 CE)
Date 115–117 CE Location Diaspora Revolt: Egypt Cyrenaica Cyprus Mesopotamia Kitos War: Judaea Result Revolt quelled Ethnic cleansing of Jews in Egypt, Cyrenaica and Cyprus Halt of further Roman expansion to the east
Belligerents
Roman Empire Local populations	Jewish rebels, primarily in: Egypt Cyrenaica Cyprus Mesopotamia Judaea
Commanders and leaders
Trajan # Hadrian Marcius Turbo Lusius Quietus	Lukuas (Andreas) Artemio

The term "Diaspora Revolt" (115–117 CE; Hebrew: מרד הגלויות, romanized: mered ha-galuyot, or מרד התפוצות, mered ha-tfutzot, 'rebellion of the diaspora'; Latin: Tumultus Iudaicus), also known as the Trajanic Revolt and sometimes as the Second Jewish–Roman War, refers to a series of uprisings that occurred in Jewish diaspora communities across the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire during the final years of Trajan's reign. These revolts occurred while the emperor was engaged in his Parthian campaign in Mesopotamia, which provided a favorable opportunity. The ancient sources do not specify the exact motivations, but they were likely influenced by the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, long-standing tensions between Jews and Greeks, the Fiscus Judaicus tax, messianic expectations, and hopes for a return to Judaea.

The uprisings unfolded almost simultaneously across various provinces of the Roman East. In Egypt, Libya and Cyprus, Jewish actions were primarily directed against local populations rather than the Roman authorities, with accounts from historians like Cassius Dio and Eusebius, as well as epigraphical evidence, documenting extreme violence, including mass killings and the destruction of temples. In contrast, the rebellion in Mesopotamia seems to have been part of a broader resistance against Roman expansion into Parthian-ruled territories.

Marcius Turbo, one of Trajan's top generals, was dispatched with both land and naval forces to suppress the uprisings in Egypt and Libya. Literary sources suggest that the Jewish population in these regions faced severe reprisals and devastation. Meanwhile, General Lusius Quietus quelled the revolts in Mesopotamia and was subsequently appointed governor of Judaea. It was during this time that the lesser-known and less-understood Kitos War unfolded, involving Jewish unrest in Judaea. The uprisings were likely suppressed before autumn 117, possibly as early as summer, just prior to Trajan's death; however, some unrest may have persisted into the winter of 117–118.

The Diaspora Revolt appears to have resulted in the devastation or annihilation of Jewish communities in Egypt, Libya, and other regions. There was significant damage to buildings, temples, and roads, especially in Cyrene and other parts of Cyrenaica. A festival celebrating the victory over the Jews continued to be observed eighty years later in the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus. Fifteen years after these uprisings, the Bar Kokhba revolt erupted, marking the last major Jewish attempt to regain independence in Judaea. After its failure, the Jewish population in Judaea was significantly reduced, and the community's center shifted to Galilee. In the Diaspora, the largest Jewish communities were concentrated in Parthian Mesopotamia and Roman-ruled Asia Minor and Italy.

Primary sources

The available narrative sources on the Diaspora Revolt are fragmented, late, and incomplete, making it difficult for historians to reconstruct a comprehensive account of the events. The principal sources, Cassius Dio and Eusebius, provide only a brief coverage. Cassius Dio, writing in the 3rd century, offers extensive information on Cyrene, a brief mention of Cyprus, and only a passing reference to Egypt. While he notes the Roman suppression of a revolt in Mesopotamia, he does not explicitly identify the Jewish role there. His account survives only in an abridged version created in the 12th century by the Byzantine scholar Xiphilinus, whose anti-Jewish sentiment may have distorted the original text, which assigns the blame to the Jewish population.

Eusebius, a Christian bishop active in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, addresses the revolt in both his Chronicon and Ecclesiastical History. His narrative centers on the uprisings in Egypt, with additional references to a Jewish rebellion in Mesopotamia and events in Cyprus. He mentions that Greek historians provide accounts of the revolt similar to his, though he seems unaware of Cassius Dio's version, which emphasizes atrocities. In contrast, Eusebius adopts a more neutral tone. Nonetheless, his portrayal of the revolt is framed within his broader theological argument that Jewish suffering was a consequence of their rejection of Christ.

Appian provides an eyewitness account of the revolt in the surviving portions of his Roman History. Among several anecdotes, he recounts his narrow escape from capture, fleeing a Jewish ship via wilderness paths and boat near Pelusium, and describes the destruction of the Pompey monument near Alexandria. His neutral tone is similar to that of Eusebius, who is believed to have used Appian as a source. Also active in the second century, Arrian—who wrote a lost work on the Parthians that included references to Trajan's actions against the Jews—is also believed to have been used by Eusebius.

Orosius, a Roman Christian historian and theologian writing in the early 5th century, provides information on the revolt but is not an independent source. His account heavily relies on Eusebius's works, accessed through Latin translations by Jerome and Rufinus. While Orosius mirrors Eusebius closely, he introduces rearrangements and employs more vivid, dramatic language to enhance the narrative. Despite its liveliness, his account lacks originality and immediacy and has been described as "vague".

The uprisings in Egypt are also documented by papyrological evidence. which offers valuable insights into the events. These documents, part of the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum (CPJ) collection—which includes ancient papyri related to Jews and Judaism in Egypt—shed light on key aspects of the revolt, including its chronology, casualties, impact, and aftermath. Papyri, for example, showed that local Egyptians fought against the Jews, instead of supporting them, as was suggested earlier. Additionally, archaeological and epigraphic evidence strengthens the understanding of the revolt in Cyprus and Cyrenaica, with Latin and Greek inscriptions from Cyrenaica serving as key examples. These inscriptions document the reconstruction of buildings damaged during the "Jewish uprising," shedding light on the scale of the destruction and subsequent rebuilding efforts.

The Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah 5:1, contains three stories about the Jewish revolt, including references to the destruction of the Great Synagogue of Alexandria and the massacre of Jews by Trajan. These narratives, which focus on Roman actions rather than the Greeks or Egyptians, were likely influenced by the heightened anti-Roman sentiment following the Bar Kokhba revolt, which occurred about fifteen years later and had disastrous consequences for the Jews of Judaea. While the stories contain historical kernels, they also incorporate legendary elements that reduce their reliability as strict historical sources. Nonetheless, these sources reflect rabbinic debates of the time regarding Jewish life in the diaspora following the Bar Kokhba revolt, highlight the hostilities and tensions between Jews and Romans, and reveal the hope for the arrival of the Messiah among the Jews of Judaea.

Background

Depiction of the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, 70 CE. This event contributed to the sense of unrest and messianic expectations that played a significant role in the Diaspora Revolt

The motivations behind the revolts are complex and not easily discernible due to the lack of direct sources addressing the underlying causes. However, a prevailing sense of unrest and dissatisfaction among the Jewish population of the time can be traced to several factors. The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE left a profound impact, compounded by the imposition of the Fiscus Judaicus the same year, a humiliating tax levied on all Jews within the Roman Empire. This period also witnessed widespread messianic expectations—a belief in the coming of a redeemer, a descendant of David, who would bring transformative change and restore the Davidic kingdom in Israel—as well as a longing for the re-establishment of the Jewish state. Contemporary Jewish texts, such as the Third Sibylline Oracle, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch, reflect these themes, emphasizing anticipation of a messianic figure, the ingathering of the exiles, and the eventual rebuilding of the Temple. The messianic aspect of the revolt is perhaps suggested by Eusebius referring to Lukuas, the leader of the Jewish rebels in Libya, as "king," suggesting that the uprising evolved from an ethnic conflict into a nationalist movement with messianic ambitions for political independence.

Local conditions further contributed to the unrest, especially in Egypt, where longstanding social, economic, political, and ideological tensions between Jews and Greeks had escalated since the third century BCE. The situation deteriorated under Roman rule, leading to notable but sporadic violence in various eastern cities, including severe riots in Alexandria in 29 BCE, 38 CE, 41 CE, and 66 CE. The defeat of the Jews in the First Jewish Revolt of 66–73 CE amplified hostility towards them in Egypt, resulting in legal and violent exclusion from civic positions and higher business fees. The conflict intensified anti-Jewish rhetoric in Egypt and exacerbating mutual hostilities between Jews and Egyptians. In the years leading up to the Diaspora Revolt, incidents of anti-Jewish violence by Greeks occurred in 112 and the summer of 115 CE. These attacks, especially the latter, were likely direct catalysts for the Jewish uprising in the region. In Libya, earlier disturbances in 73 CE, which resulted in the deaths and dispossession of many wealthy Jews, may have weakened the moderating influence of the Jewish elite, thereby enabling more radical elements to gain prominence and push for revolt. Additionally, the destruction of the Jewish landholding aristocracy exacerbated economic hardships for Jewish tenant farmers, pushing them into cities and worsening their plight.

William Horbury writes that the revolt was influenced by a strong national hope and local interpretations of messianic expectations, particularly the return of the diaspora and the rebuilding of the Temple. He adds that Jews in the diaspora may have been influenced by the concepts of "liberty" and "redemption," which were central to the First Jewish Revolt and likely spread to Jewish communities in Egypt, Cyrene, and possibly Cyprus through refugees and traders from Judaea. This idea is supported by Josephus' account of Sicarii refugees in Cyrene, the discovery of First Jewish revolt coinage in Memphis and near Cyrene, and traces of these themes in diasporic literature.

E. Mary Smallwood suggests that the movement could be seen as an ancient form of Zionism, with the goal of returning Jewish exiles from North Africa to Palestine. The advance of the Cyrenaican Jews into Egypt, marked by widespread destruction, may have been intended as the initial phase of this large-scale migration. Shim'on Applebaum writes that the movement aimed at "the setting up of a new Jewish commonwealth, whose task was to inaugurate the messianic era." John M. G. Barclay argues that the significant damage to Cyrenaica's infrastructure during the uprising implies that the Jews involved intended to leave the province, probably planning to ultimately reach Judaea. Similarly, Horbury writes that the Jewish forces likely aimed to return to and defend Judaea.

Uprisings

The Jewish uprisings erupted almost simultaneously across various Diaspora regions in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. In Egypt, Libya and Cyprus, Jewish actions were primarily directed against local populations rather than the Roman authorities. In contrast, the rebellion in Mesopotamia appears to have been part of a broader resistance against Roman expansion into areas ruled by the Parthian Empire. There is no evidence that Jewish communities in Asia Minor participated in the revolt, and the Jewish community in Rome also did not join the uprising. Eusebius links the revolts in Libya and Egypt, while late Syriac sources mention that Jews from Egypt fled to Judaea. However, there is no definitive evidence of a coordinated effort.

Libya

The ruins of Cyrene, Libya. The city's center was extensively damaged during the revolt, with public baths, the Caesareum, and several temples destroyed.

In Libya, Jews launched attacks against their Greek and Roman neighbors, led either by Andreas (according to Dio/Xiphilinus) or Lukuas (according to Eusebius). These could have been two separate individuals or a single person known by both names—a common practice at the time. Eusebius refers to Lukuas as "king", a title that has prompted some scholars to speculate on a possible messianic motivation behind the uprising, though evidence supporting this theory remains limited. Eusebius writes that the Jews of Libya collaborated with the Jews of Egypt, forming a symmachia (military alliance). He also mentions that, at one point, the Jews of Libya moved into Egypt.

Dio's account describes the Jews of Libya as engaging in shockingly violent and cruel behavior. They are said to have engaged in cannibalism, mutilation, and other brutal acts, including using the victims' skins and entrails to make clothing and belts, and staging gladiatorial and wild beast shows. Dio reported that the Jewish rebels in Cyrenaica were responsible for approximately 220,000 Gentile deaths, though this figure is likely exaggerated for rhetorical effect. The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia notes that "(Dio's) descriptions of the cruelties perpetrated by the Jews at Cyrene and on the island of Cyprus are probably exaggerated." Pucci Ben Zeev writes that this portrayal should be examined within the broader context of how revolts by "barbarians" against the Romans were typically described in periodical historiography. She notes that the atrocities attributed to the Jews by Dio are not more egregious than those he ascribes to the Britons during the Boudican revolt in 61 CE or to the Bucoli, a group of Nile Delta herdsmen, during their uprising in Egypt in 171 CE.

Epigraphical sources provide evidence of attacks on religious and civic structures, including temples and statues. In Cyrene, for instance, the sanctuary of Apollo witnessed the destruction and burning of the baths, porticoes, ball-courts, and other nearby structures during the uprising. The temple of Hecate also suffered destruction and was burned down in the uprising. Significant damage is also recorded at the Caesareum and the temple of Zeus. Bishop Synesius, a native of Cyrene from the early 5th century, also refers to the devastation caused by the Jews, four centuries after the revolt.

The archaeological evidence, including inscriptions, sheds light on the significant destruction caused by the Jews in Cyrenaica during the revolt. A Hadrianic milestone commemorates the repair of the road connecting Cyrene with its port, Apollonia, "which had been overturned and smashed up in the Jewish revolt," possibly in anticipation of a Roman military advance from the sea. Joyce Reynolds notes significant damage to the sanctuary of Asclepius at Balagrae, west of Cyrene, which was later rebuilt under the Antonine dynasty. The presence of a deeply incised seven-branched menorah—a symbol indicative of Jewish presence—on a road northwest of Balagrae may suggest, according to Reynolds, that Jews deliberately sought to disrupt the route connecting Cyrene with neighboring regions to the west. The destruction of a small second-century temple near modern El Dab'a in Marmarica is likely also attributable to the Jewish rebels.

Egypt

The Jewish revolt in Egypt is often believed to have started around October 115 CE, based on papyrus CPJ II 435, which details a conflict between Jews and Greeks. Pucci Ben Zeev, however, contends that this document actually describes Greek attacks on Jews, rather than the beginning of a Jewish uprising, and prefers to date the revolt's start to 116 CE. Evidence from ostraca found in the Jewish quarter of Edfu, in Upper Egypt, indicates that tax receipts for Jews ceased by the end of May 116, suggesting this date as the earliest possible start for the revolt in that city. The latest possible date for the revolt's start is the beginning of September 116, as indicated by CPJ II 436, a concerned letter, from the wife of the strategos Apollonios in Hermoupolis.

Eusebius recounts that unrest in Egypt initially arose when Jewish communities, seized by a spirit of discord (stasis), engaged in civil conflict with their Greek neighbors. This unrest was soon followed by the advance of Jewish forces from Cyrene, led by Lukuas, who then achieved an initial victory over the Greeks. The Greeks escaped to Alexandria, massacring its Jewish population. Lukuas's forces, supported by Egyptian Jews who rallied to his side, continued to plunder the Egyptian chora (countryside) and destroy various districts throughout Egypt. Papyrological evidence indicates that the revolt indeed affected extensive areas, including the Athribite district, the region around Memphis (noted for its antisemitism), the Faiyum, Oxyrhynchus, and the Herakleopolite nome. Further south, fighting also impacted the Kynopolite, Hermopolite, Lycopolite, and Apollinopolite districts. It seems that the Jewish forces were well-organized and capable of presenting serious military challenges to their adversaries; as they moved through Egyptian villages, they quickly overcame local resistance.

Appian, who was in Egypt during the revolt, reports that the Jews destroyed the shrine of Nemesis near Alexandria. He states that this destruction was "for the needs of the war," suggesting a tactical move to remove a strategic point of advantage for the enemy, possibly repurposing the stone to fortify their own defenses. This action, along with other attacks on pagan temples in Egypt and Cyrenaica, may explain the term 'impious Jews' used in some papyri. Appian records that the Jews seized control of waterways near Pelusium, located at the eastern edge of the Nile Delta, a region of critical strategic value. Further evidence of military activity in Egypt's waterways is found in CPJ II 441 and a 7th-century chronicle by Coptic bishop John of Nikiû. The latter mentions the Babylon Fortress, situated at the entrance of Amnis Traianus, a canal constructed under Trajan, which facilitated connections between the Nile and the Red Sea.

Papyri indicate that the Greeks, led by strategoi, retaliated against the Jews, with assistance from Egyptian peasants and Romans. Prefect Rutilius Lupus is noted to have personally participated in these engagements. Some efforts were successful, as evidenced by the recorded "victory and success" of Apollonios near Memphis; however, due to many Roman forces being deployed in Mesopotamia, the remaining troops, including the Legio XXII Deiotariana and part of the Legio III Cyrenaica, were insufficient to restore order effectively.

Cyprus

Most of what we know about the events in Cyprus comes from literary sources, as epigraphical evidence is limited, indirect, and difficult to interpret. Dio reports that the Jews, led by Artemion, rebelled in Cyprus. Eusebius' Chronicon states that the Jews attacked the island's pagan inhabitants and destroyed the prominent port city of Salamis. Both pagan and Christian sources describe the revolt as having a profound impact, with Dio claiming that "two hundred and forty thousand perished" in Cyprus, and Orosius asserting that "all the Greek inhabitants of Salamis were killed".

Suppression

According to Eusebius, Trajan sent Marcius Turbo, one of his leading generals, "with land and sea forces including cavalry. He waged war vigorously against them in many battles for a considerable time and killed many thousands of Jews, not only those of Cyrene but also those of Egypt." Allen Kerkeslager writes that the Jewish uprisings threatened the stability of the Roman Empire by disrupting grain shipments, prompting Trajan to divert Marcius Turbo from the Parthian front.

Turbo arrived in Egypt in late 116 or early 117. He was likely accompanied by the cohors I Ulpia Afrorum equitata and the cohors I Augusta praetoria Lusitanorum equitata, both present in Egypt in 117 CE, with the latter suffering heavy losses during the early summer of the same year. One papyrus details plans to mobilize large forces, including fleets from Misenum and Ravenna, the Legio III Cyrenaica, and auxiliary units such as the Cohors I Flavia Cilicum equitata. Legio XXII Deiotariana and Legio III Cyrenaica fought against the Jews, with the names of specific Roman legionaries from these units recorded as being killed in combat. Native Egyptians and Greeks, driven by entrenched anti-Jewish sentiments intensified by wartime conditions and imperial support, eagerly joined the Romans in attacking Jews. The early severe losses suffered by the Roman military had resulted in the conscription of locals into the army, and the presence of seasoned Roman troops, eager for retribution, further exacerbated the violence.

Turbo's mission seemingly included not only quelling the revolt but also exterminating Jews in the affected areas. Roman repression was severe, with Appian describing it as an extermination of the Jewish population in Egypt, and Arian writes that Trajan asked "to destroy the nation entirely, but if not, at least to crush it and stop its presumptuous wickedness." The Jerusalem Talmud noted the destruction of the celebrated Great Synagogue of Alexandria. Turbo's military actions may have extended to Libya, where a Roman praefectus castrorum was killed.

In Cyprus, the suppression of the Jewish revolt was led by Gaius Valerius Rufus, one of Trajan's generals. The military actions there might also corroborate the Babylonian Talmud's claim that the blood of Jews killed in Egypt reached as far as Cyprus.

Scholarly debate surrounds the precise end date of the Jewish uprising. Miriam Ben Zeev argues that the revolt was likely suppressed before autumn 117, and possibly by summer, prior to Trajan's death. The reassignment of Marcius Turbo to Mauretania following Hadrian's accession as emperor in August 117 appears to support this timeline. However, Noah Hacham and Tal Ilan point to evidence suggesting more prolonged unrest. In CPJ 664c, a letter dated 20 December 117, a woman named Eudaimonis urged her son Apollonios, the strategos of Heptakomia, to remain in his secure residence—a warning that hints at persistent danger. This correspondence, along with a subsequent letter concerning the same family, suggests that instability continued in some areas into the winter of 117–118 CE.

Related events

Events in Mesopotamia

The scarcity of literary sources documenting Roman violence against Jews in Mesopotamia, which became a Roman province during Trajan's Parthian campaign around 115 CE, has sparked scholarly debate over whether a distinct Jewish revolt occurred in this region—comparable to those in other provinces—or if Jewish resistance was part of a broader anti-Roman uprising within the conquered Parthian territories. Eusebius' Chronicon reports that Trajan suspected the Jews in Mesopotamia "would also attack the inhabitants," prompting him to send General Lusius Quietus to suppress them harshly. Eusebius further notes that Quietus "murdered a great number of the Jews there." Later Christian sources also describe a military campaign led by Quietus against the Jews.

In contrast, Cassius Dio's account does not mention a Jewish uprising or a campaign against Jews in Mesopotamia. Instead, Dio refers to a broader rebellious movement in the region during the summer of 116 CE, where Quietus was one of several generals charged by Trajan to suppress the revolts, recovering Nisibis and besieging and sacking Edessa, both located in northern Mesopotamia. Notably, the Jews are not mentioned in this context; while Dio does provide a brief reference to Quietus subduing the Jews, this reference is made in the context of the revolts in Egypt, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica, without specifying a geographic location. Miriam Pucci Been Zeev suggests that the sources describing Jewish resistance in Mesopotamia are likely part of a broader resistance in the Parthian territories occupied by the Romans, probably driven by the Jews' relatively favorable position within the Parthian Empire, which contrasted with their harsher treatment under Roman rule.

The "Kitos War" in Judaea

Further information: Kitos War

Around the time of the Diaspora revolt, a lesser-known and understood conflict called the "Kitos War" occurred in Judaea. After Trajan's military campaigns in Mesopotamia, General Lusius Quietus was appointed governor of Judaea and likely brought additional forces, including possibly the vexillatio of Legio III Cyrenaica. Jewish sources date the "Kitos War" to fifty-two years after the destruction of the Second Temple and sixteen years before the Bar Kokhba revolt, resulting in restrictive legislation and a ban on teaching Greek.

Late Syriac sources mention unrest in Judaea, claiming that Jews from Egypt and Libya were defeated by Roman forces there. An inscription from Sardinia mentions an expeditio Judaeae among Trajan's military campaigns. Additionally, Judaea's status changed from praetorian to consular, and a second permanent legion was added before 120 CE. According to Martin Goodman, this addition reflects Roman concerns about potential future revolts in Judaea, despite the evident hesitation of Jews in the province to join the uprisings in the diaspora—a cautionary stance that may have played a role in the eventual outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132 CE.

Aftermath

Destruction of Jewish communities

Replica of a Roman milestone found at Shahhat, near Cyrene, with an inscription documenting the repair of a road damaged during the Jewish uprising, carried out under Hadrian

The suppression of the revolt saw a devastating campaign of ethnic cleansing, which effectively led to the near-total expulsion and annihilation of Jews from Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and many parts of Egypt. Historical evidence indicates that Jewish communities were either annihilated or forced into migration, with only a few survivors possibly remaining in isolated areas on the fringes of Roman control.

In Egypt, the Jewish community suffered near-total destruction during the revolt, an event Clarysse characterizes as a genocide. Appian reported that Trajan "was utterly destroying the Jewish people in Egypt," a claim corroborated by papyri and inscriptions documenting widespread devastation of Jewish populations across many regions. Jewish lands were confiscated, and Trajan implemented a new registry, the Ioudaikos logos, to catalog properties that had previously belonged to Jews. The Jewish community in Alexandria appears to have been entirely eradicated, with the only survivors likely being those who had fled to other regions at the onset of the uprising. The large synagogue of Alexandria, celebrated in the Talmud, was destroyed, and the Jewish court in Alexandria might have been abolished. Horbury suggests that some Jewish refugees fled to Judaea, bringing with them stories about Egypt and Trajan, which were later preserved through rabbinic transmission. Others may have fled to Syria, where it is possible that works like 4 Maccabees were created by Alexandrian Jews who had resettled in Antioch.

After 117 CE, Jewish presence in Egypt and Libya virtually disappears from historical sources. No Jewish inscriptions from Egypt have been securely dated from the period following the revolt until the fourth century, and Egyptian papyri that mention Jews predominantly refer to isolated individuals rather than communities. In the Faiyum region, which previously had substantial Jewish communities, mid-2nd century CE tax records show only one Jew among a thousand adult males. Moreover, no Jewish tax receipts have been discovered in Edfu from after 116 CE. It was not until the third century that Jews re-established communities in Egypt, but they never regained their former influence.

In Cyrenaica, a gap in the evidence following the revolt suggests that the region was virtually depopulated of Jews due to their migration to Egypt and subsequent massacres by non-Jews. After the war ended, laws were placed ordering the exile of Jews from Cyrene, which Renzo De Felice said "reduced the flourishing [Jewish] community of Cyrene to insignificance and set it on the road to an inevitable decline." According to De Felice, many of the Jews expelled joined Berber tribes, particularly those around modern-day Sirte. A substantial Jewish community was not reestablished in Cyrenaica until the fourth century.

Cassius Dio reports that, even in his day in third-century Cyprus, "no Jew may set foot on that island, and even if one of them is driven upon the shores by a storm he is put to death." This claim is corroborated by archaeological evidence, which indicates no Jewish presence on the island until the fourth century.

Impact on the eastern provinces

In Egypt, the aftermath of the revolts caused agricultural decline, shortages of slave labor and textiles, and an economic crisis with unstable prices and a shortage of essentials like bread. Roman troops in Egypt suffered significant losses, with some units experiencing 30–40 percent casualties. Egypt's agricultural hinterlands were heavily impacted by the war, and many farmlands remained unrecovered and underproductive for decades. Despite this, census data do not show a major demographic disruption in the overall population.

In Cyrenaica, there was significant damage to buildings, temples, and roads, especially in Cyrene, where the city's center was extensively destroyed. The physical destruction of the city was significant enough that Hadrian had to rebuild the city at the beginning of his reign, according to archaeological findings. Hadrianic inscriptions document the restoration of sites such as the baths by the Sanctuary of Apollo and the Caesareum. A letter from Hadrian to the Cyrenaeans in 134/5 CE urged them to prevent their city from remaining in ruins. The Roman authorities initiated a large-scale recolonization of Cyrenaica after the destruction caused by the revolt, sending 3,000 veterans under the command of the prefect of Legio XV Apollinaris to settle in the region. Some of these veterans were stationed in Cyrene itself, while others were relocated to other sites, including the newly founded city of Hadrianopolis, on the coast.

Eusebius' Chronicon and Orosius report extensive destruction in Salamis and Alexandria, with Orosius noting that Libya would have remained depopulated without Hadrian's resettlement efforts:

The Jews [...] waged war on the inhabitants throughout Libya in the most savage fashion, and to such an extent was the country wasted that, its cultivators having been slain, its land would have remained utterly depopulated, had not Emperor Hadrian gathered settlers from other places and sent them thither, for the inhabitants had been wiped out.

In Alexandria, the damage was less extensive than Eusebius suggests, who claimed the city was "overthrown" and required rebuilding by Hadrian. The primary loss was the sanctuary of Nemesis, where Pompey's head was buried, which was destroyed by Jewish forces possibly in retaliation for Pompey's desecration of the Temple in 63 BCE. The Ptolemaic Serapeum and other structures were likely damaged later by Egyptian and Cyrenaican Jews, rather than by Alexandrian Jews.

The total destruction of Salamis is also questioned, as it received the title of metropolis in 123 CE, suggesting not all damage was as severe as reported. Some Roman actions, such as Trajan's colony in Libya and Hadrian's edict favoring Egyptian peasants, may not be directly linked to the uprisings and could relate to pre-existing conditions.

Impact on Trajan's Parthian campaign

The simultaneous Jewish uprisings across various regions forced Trajan to divert his top military leaders from the Parthian front, impacting his campaign. The resistance in Mesopotamia, though ultimately unsuccessful in its siege of Hatra, led to a compromise with the Parthians and coincided with Trajan's illness and death. The siege of Hatra continued throughout the summer of 117, but the years of constant campaigning and reports of revolts had taken a toll on Trajan, who suffered a stroke resulting in partial paralysis. He decided to begin the long journey back to Rome to recover. As he sailed from Seleucia, his health deteriorated rapidly. He was taken ashore at Selinus in Cilicia, where he died. His successor, Hadrian, assumed the reins of government shortly thereafter.

This shift in focus from the east may have influenced Hadrian's policy of avoiding further imperial expansion, contrasting with Trajan's approach. Despite a triumph celebrated at Trajan's funerals, the Parthian war ended in failure and ensured that Babylonian Jews remained outside Roman control, as reflected in the Babylonian Talmud's assertion of their protection from Roman decrees: "The Holy One, blessed be He, knows that Israel is unable to endure the cruel decrees of Edom, therefore He exiled them to Babylonia". Orosius, writing in the early fifth century, saw the Jewish uprisings as divine punishment—a plague upon Rome—resulting from its persecution of Christians.

Bar Kokhba revolt

Fifteen years after the Diaspora Revolt, the Bar Kokhba revolt erupted in Judaea, marking the final major Jewish uprising against Roman rule and the last attempt to restore Jewish independence in the Land of Israel. The revolt was driven by a combination of factors: administrative changes in Judaea following the First Jewish–Roman War, a heavy Roman military presence, economic decline possibly linked to a shift from landownership to sharecropping, and a rise in nationalistic sentiment fueled by the Diaspora Revolt. Immediate causes debated by scholars include Hadrian's establishment of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem and a ban on circumcision.

Under the leadership of Simon bar Kokhba, the Jews initially succeeded in establishing a short-lived independent state. However, the Romans responded with a massive military campaign, decisively suppressing the revolt by 135 CE. The suppression resulted in extensive destruction across Judaea, mass death, displacement, and enslavement, along with severe punitive measures. The province was renamed Syria Palaestina, and Jews faced restrictions on religious practice.

After the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Jewish population in Judaea was significantly diminished, and the Jewish center shifted to Galilee. Within the Roman Empire, the most significant Jewish diaspora communities were in Asia Minor and Italy, while the largest Jewish populations were concentrated in Central Mesopotamia, under Parthian and later Sasanian rule.

Influence on Jewish thought

In the Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, a tannaitic exegesis on Exodus, the 'days of Trajan' are cited as the third instance in which the Torah's injunction against returning to Egypt was violated, resulting in three punishments:

In three places God warned Israel not to return to Egypt [...] Yet three times they returned, and three times they fell. The first was in the days of Sennacherib, as it is said, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. The second was in the days of Yohanan son of Kareah, as it is said, ‘Then it shall come to pass that the word, which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The third time was in the days of Trajan. On these three occasions they returned, and on all three occasions they fell.

The reference to the calamity during Trajan's reign is notably more concise than the detailed accounts of the earlier violations, suggesting that the event was still vivid in Jewish consciousness. According to this interpretation, the destruction of the community in Alexandria was a consequence of violating the prohibition against returning to Egypt, implying that every Jewish settlement in Egypt was a sin. While the Mekhilta does not identify the sage behind this saying, a parallel tradition in the Jerusalem Talmud attributes it to Shimon bar Yochai, a sage of the generation following the Bar Kokhba revolt, who, in numerous other sayings, emphasized the centrality of the Land of Israel. According to Noah Hacham, Bar Yochai's statement served a dual purpose: it aimed to explain to his contemporaries the destruction of the Jewish community in Egypt, while also reinforcing the notion that, despite the disastrous consequences of the Bar Kokhba revolt and subsequent distress, only the Land of Israel offered the hope of safety and salvation for the Jewish people. The Jerusalem Talmud, following Bar Yochai's statement and preceded by a description of the Great Synagogue of Alexandria and its destruction by Trajan, also includes an amoraic text, written in a blend of Hebrew and Aramaic, that offers an explanation for Trajan's slaughter of the Jews in Alexandria:

A son was born to him on the Ninth of Ave and they did fast. His daughter died on Ḥanukkah and they lit lights. His wife sent and told him, instead that you conquer the barbarians come and conquer the Jews who revolted against you. He intended to come in ten days and came and found them occupied [in the Torah with the verse:] He will carry against you a people from far away, from the ends of the earth, etc. He asked them, with what were you occupied. They answered him, with such-and-such. He said to them, this man is he since he intended to come in ten days but came in five. He surrounded them by legions and killed them. He said to their wives, if you listen to my legions I shall not kill you. They told him, what you did to those on the ground floor do to those on the gallery. He mixed their blood with their blood and the blood flowed in the sea up to Cyprus. At that moment the horn of Israel was trimmed and will not be restituted until the Son of David will come.

The story highlights a stark contrast between the Jews and Rome: while the emperor celebrates the birth of his son, the Jews fast in mourning; and when his daughter dies, the Jews rejoice with festive lights. Interpreting these acts as signs of rebellion, Trajan's wife persuades him to redirect his focus from the Parthian campaign to suppress the Jews. Though the story reflects historical facts, such as Trajan's reallocation of troops, it also contains fictional elements—Trajan is not known to have had children, nor is there evidence of his presence in Egypt during this time. The Torah passage cited in the story, referencing an enemy nation and in a later part, the eagle—also a Roman symbol—identifies the biblical, prophesized oppressor with Rome.

Noah Hacham interprets the stories as reflecting a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between Jews and Romans. The Ninth of Av, when Jews commemorate Rome's destruction of the Second Temple, coincides with Rome celebrating the continuity of its empire, while Hanukkah, marking the Temple's rededication, contrasts with the disruption of Roman continuity. Additionally, the Egyptian context casts Trajan as harsher than the biblical Pharaoh: the latter targeted male infants, whereas Trajan annihilated all. According to Hacham, these stories, put together in the Jerusalem Talmud, frame the destruction of Alexandria's Jewish community as part of a pattern of calamities endured by the Jewish people.

Commemoration in Egypt

At Oxyrhynchus, a festival commemorating the victory over the Jews continued to be observed nearly 80 years later, around 200 CE, during the visit of Septimius Severus to Egypt, as documented in papyrus CPJ II 450:

The inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus possess the goodwill, faithfulness and friendship to the Romans, which they showed in the war against the Jews, fighting on your side. And even now they celebrate the day of victory as a festival day each year.

This celebration drew participants and spectators from diverse social groups, including Greco-Egyptian elites and local Egyptian peasants, suggesting its development within traditional Egyptian festival frameworks. Its annual occurrence linked it to the agricultural cycle of the period, highlighting its importance in the community.

David Frankfurter argues that the festival incorporated ritual re-dramatization of the victory, portraying the Jews as Typhonians (followers of Set-Typhon) and their defeat as the triumph of Horus-Pharaoh, with their expulsion presented as a purification of the land. The Egyptian priesthood, who had previously recast the Greek Ptolemaic rulers as traditional pharaohs, apparently led these celebrations, continuing an earlier priestly tradition that had produced anti-Jewish polemics through figures like Manetho and Chaeremon.

See also

Jewish revolts against Rome

• History of the Jews in the Roman Empire
• Jewish–Roman wars
  • First Jewish–Roman War, 66–73 CE
  • Bar Kokhba revolt, 132–136 CE
• Kitos War – a minor revolt in Judaea at the time of the Diaspora revolt
• Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus, 352 CE
• Jewish revolt against Heraclius, 614–617/625

Related topics

• Samaritan revolts, 484–572 CE
• List of conflicts in the Near East

References

Primary sources

• Babylonian Talmud, Sukkot 51b.
• Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkot, 5.1.

Secondary sources

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• Barclay, John M.G. (1998). Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE–117 CE). Edinburgh: T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0567-08651-8.
• Barnes, T. D. (1989). "Trajan and the Jews". Journal of Jewish Studies. 40 (2): 145–162. doi:10.18647/1469/JJS-1989.
• Bennett, Julian (2005) [1997]. Trajan Optimus Princeps: A Life and Times (e-Library ed.). London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-36056-7.
• Clarysse, Willy (2021). "The Jewish Presence in Graeco-Roman Egypt: The Evidence of the Papyri since the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum". In Salvesen, Alison; Pearce, Sarah; Frenkel, Miriam (eds.). Israel in Egypt: The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period. Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. Vol. 110. Leiden & Boston: Brill. pp. 305–325. ISBN 978-90-04-43539-1.
• De Felice, Renzo (1985) [1978]. Jews in an Arab Land: Libya, 1835–1970. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-292-74016-6.
• Eshel, Hanan (2006). "The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135". In Katz, Steven T. (ed.). The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period. The Cambridge History of Judaism. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77248-8.
• Frankfurter, David (1992). "Lest Egypt's City Be Deserted: Religion and Ideology in the Egyptian Response to the Jewish Revolt (116–117 CE)". Journal of Jewish Studies. 43 (2): 203–220. doi:10.18647/1649/JJS-1992.
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Further reading

Primary sources

• Appian. Roman History, Fr. 19.
• Cassius Dio. Roman History, 68.32.1–3.
• Eusebius. Chronicon.
• Eusebius. Ecclestial History, 4.2.1–5.
• Orosius. Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, 7.12.6–8.