| Kitos War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSecond Jewish–Roman War | |||||||||
.svg) Map of Judaea (red), theRoman province where Jewish aspirations for independence had spurred theJewish–Roman wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Roman Empire | Jews | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Roman & Greek deaths: 200,000 in Cyrene, 240,000 in Cyprus (perCassius Dio). Unknown deaths in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Judea, and Syria. | Destruction and displacement of Jewish communities in North Africa, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Egypt | ||||||||
TheKitos War took place from 116 to 118, as part of theSecond Jewish–Roman War. Ancient Jewish sources date it to 52 years after theFirst Jewish–Roman War (66–73) and 16 years before theBar Kokhba revolt (132–136). Like other conflicts of theJewish–Roman wars, the Kitos War was spurred by discontent among theJews towards theRoman Empire. This sentiment, which most likely intensified significantly in the wake of theRoman destruction of the Second Temple in 70, had triggered another series of major Jewish uprisings throughoutJudaea and the rest of theNear East, includingEgypt,Libya,Cyprus, andMesopotamia.
Following the suppression of the Mesopotamian Jewish revolt, the Roman emperorTrajan appointed his generalLusius Quietus (also known as Kitos) as consul and governor of Judaea. LateSyriac-language sources suggest that Jewish rebels from Egypt and Libya relocated to Judaea, but were defeated there by theRoman army. However, the reliability of these sources is debated, and modern scholarship remains cautious with the lack of confirmation from the Greco-Roman historiansCassius Dio andEusebius, who were the main sources for the events of the Second Jewish–Roman War.
A large number of Jews were executed by Roman troops besiegingLydda, where Jewish rebels had gathered under the leadership of brothersJulian and Pappus. These "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in theTalmud.[4][5]
Although they had successfully put down numerous Jewish revolts, the Romans' situation in Judaea remained tense, prompting Trajan's successorHadrian to permanently moveLegio VIFerrata intoCaesarea Maritima. This environment climaxed with the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt shortly thereafter, beginning with the establishment of an independent Jewish state by the rebels and ending with the massacre and displacement of Jews throughout Judaea, as well as the likely destruction or near-destruction of threeRoman legions.
Hebrew:פולמוס קיטוס,romanized: Polemos Ḳiṭus is a corruption (likely throughJewish Palestinian Aramaic) ofKoine Greek:Πόλεμος του Κυήτου,romanized: Pólemos tou Kuḗtou,lit. 'Quietus' War', after the Roman governor ofJudaea,Lusius Quietus, who put down the revolt.
The terms "Kitos War", "Diaspora Revolt" and "Second Jewish–Roman War" are often used interchangeably, but the first two terms are better understood as theatres of the latter larger conflict.
Tension between theJewish population of the Roman Empire and the Greek and Roman populations mounted over the course of the 1st century CE, gradually escalating with various violent events, mainly throughoutJudaea, where parts of the Judaean population occasionally erupted into violent insurrections against theRoman Empire. Several incidents also occurred in other parts of the empire, such as theAlexandria pogroms, targeting the largeJewish community of Alexandria in the province of Egypt. However, with the exception of Alexandria, the Jewish diaspora fared well throughout the Roman Empire and relied on the Roman state to maintain their rights.[6]
The escalation of tensions finally erupted as theFirst Jewish–Roman War, which began in 66. Initial hostilities were the result of Greek and Jewish religious tensions but later escalated withanti-taxation protests and attacks upon Roman citizens.[7] The Roman military garrison of Judaea was quickly overrun by rebels and the pro-Roman kingHerod Agrippa II fledJerusalem, together with Roman officials, toGalilee.Cestius Gallus, thelegate ofSyria, brought the Syrian army, based onXII Fulminata, reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order and quell the revolt. The legion, however, was ambushed and defeated by Jewish rebels at theBattle of Beth Horon, a result that shocked the Roman leadership.
The suppression of the revolt was then handed to GeneralVespasian and his sonTitus, who assembled four legions and began advancing through the country, starting with Galilee in 67. The revolt ended whenlegions under Titusbesieged and destroyed the center of rebel resistance in Jerusalem in 70 and defeated the remaining Jewish strongholds later on.
In 115 CE, a wave of large-scale Jewish uprisings, known as the "Diaspora Revolt", erupted almost simultaneously across several provinces in theEastern Mediterranean.[8] The uprisings took place while Emperor Trajan was waging a military campaign against theParthian Empire further east. The revolts appear to have been influenced by long-standing ethnic tensions,[9] the destruction of theSecond Temple,[10] and revolutionary ideas spread by insurgents from Judaea.[11] Additional factors fueling the unrest included the humiliating Jewish Tax imposed by Rome[10] and widespread messianic expectations of divine redemption.[10][12][13] Scholars believe that the rebels may have aimed at a return to Judaea, the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty, and the rebuilding of the Temple.[14][12]
InLibya, Jewish forces launched attacks against Greek and Roman populations under the leadership of either Andreas orLukuas – possibly the same individual known by both names.[15] In Egypt, the uprising reportedly began with clashes between Jewish communities and their Greek neighbors,[16] which escalated when Lukuas and his followers arrived from Cyrenaica. They plundered the countryside and overcame local resistance. The Greeks, supported by Egyptian peasants and Romans, retaliated, massacring the Jews ofAlexandria.[17] InCyprus, Jewish rebels under Artemion's leadership reportedly devastated the island and the city ofSalamis.[18][19]
The Roman response was severe.Marcius Turbo, initially deployed against the Parthians, was redirected to suppress the revolts in Egypt and Libya with a large military force.[20] His campaigns were marked by extreme brutality,[20][21] leading to the near-extermination of Jewish populations in Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Egypt. By late 117, the revolts had been largely quelled,[20] though some disturbances in Egypt may have continued into early 118.[22] In the aftermath, Jewish communities in the affected regions suffered immense losses,[21][23] with archaeological evidence indicating severe destruction, particularly inCyrene, which required reconstruction under Hadrian.[24]
Ancient sources state that, alongside the Jewish uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and Cyprus, unrest also erupted inMesopotamia following its recent conquest by the Romans from the Parthians.Cassius Dio describes a rebellion in the region during the summer of 116 CE, noting that GeneralLusius Quietus played a key role in suppressing it, retakingNisibis and sackingEdessa, though he does not specifically mention Jewish involvement.[25][26]
In contrast,Eusebius explicitly attributes activities in Mesopotamia to the Jews, reporting that Trajan suspected them of planning attacks against the inhabitants,[27] prompting him to order Quietus to suppress them harshly.[26] Eusebius further states that Quietus "murdered a great number of the Jews there."[27] Later Christian sources also mention a military campaign led by Quietus against Jewish communities in the region.[25] Jewish resistance in Mesopotamia may have been part of a wider movement against Roman occupation in the Parthian territories, likely fueled by the contrast between their relatively privileged status under Parthian rule and the harsher conditions imposed by the Romans.[26]
Following his suppression of rebel resistance in Mesopotamia, Quietus was honored with the consulship and given the governorship ofJudaea by Trajan.[28][29] The exact events at this stage remain unclear,[a] but according to scholars such as Pucci Ben Zeev, there appears to have been a wave of Jewish unrest that Lucius Quietus suppressed.[29]
Cassius Dio and Eusebius, the main sources on the diaspora uprisings of this period, do not mention events in Judaea at the time.[29] However, fragmented and later accounts offer some insight. One such piece of evidence is an inscription fromSardinia, which records anexpeditio Judaeae among the wars fought by Trajan.[30] Additionally, two lateSyriac sources suggest that Jewish rebels from Egypt and Libya moved to Judaea, where they were defeated by the Romans.[29]
Hostilities may have been stoked by Roman cult acts in Jerusalem. According toHippolytus, a legion brought by Trajan erected an idol identified as Kore on theTemple Mount, an act that would have been perceived by Jews as a direct desecration of their holiest site. Epigraphic evidence points to a similar provocation: an inscription attests that soldiers ofLegio III Cyrenaica dedicated an altar or statue to the Greco-Egyptian godSerapis in Jerusalem during the final year of Trajan's reign (116 CE).[31]
Rabbinic sources recount the story ofJulian and Pappus, which may have taken place during this period of unrest in Judaea.[29] It is possible that Quietus laid siege toLydda, where the rebel Jews had gathered under the leadership of Julian and Pappus. The distress became so great that the patriarch RabbanGamaliel II, who was shut up there and died soon afterwards, permitted fasting even onḤanukkah. Other rabbis condemned that measure.[32] Lydda was then taken, and many of the rebellious Jews were executed; the "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in theTalmud.[4] Pappus and Julian were among those executed by the Romans that year, and became martyrs among the Jews.[5]
Lusius Quietus, whom Trajan had held in high regard and who had served Rome well, was quietly stripped of his command onceHadrian had secured the imperial title. He was murdered in unknown circumstances in the summer of 118, possibly by the orders of Hadrian. Hadrian took the unpopular decisions to end the war, abandon many of Trajan's eastern conquests, and stabilise the eastern borders. Although he abandoned the province of Mesopotamia, he installedParthamaspates—who had been ejected fromCtesiphon by the returningOsroes—as king of a restoredOsroene. For a century, Osroene retained a precarious independence as abuffer state between both empires. The situation in Judaea remained tense for the Romans, who were obliged under Hadrian to move theLegio VIFerrata permanently intoCaesarea Maritima in Judaea.
Some scholars dispute that any conflict occurred in Judaea during the Diaspora Revolt. HistoriansEric M. Meyers and Mark A. Chancey, for example, write that "the rebellion did not apparently spread to Judea, where the arrival of a second legion to complement the Tenth Legion provided a successful buffer against further uprisings."[33] Similarly, Fergus Millar notes that "there is no concrete evidence for a Jewish revolt in Judaea" concurrent with the Diaspora Revolt.[34]
After the Kitos War, Judaea underwent administrative and military restructuring. The province was elevated frompraetorian to consular status, allowing for a strengthened military presence. As part of this change, a second legion, likelyLegio II Traiana, was stationed in the region byc. 120 CE.[30] Following Quietus, subsequent governors of the province also held consular rank. Among them wereLucius Cossonius Gallus, who was appointed consul in 116 and governed Judaea between 118 and 120, andQuintus Coredius Gallus Gargilius Antiquus,consul suffectus in 119, who served as governor between 122 and 125.[30]
Further developments took place in Judaea in 130 CE, whenHadrian visited the Eastern Mediterranean and decided to rebuild the ruined city of Jerusalem as theRoman colony ofAelia Capitolina, named after himself.[35] This decision, along with a possible ban oncircumcision, led to the outbreak of theBar Kokhba revolt,[36] the final major Jewish uprising and last organized attempt to regain national independence.[37][38] The rebels initially secured victories against the Romans, briefly establishing an independent state and severely straining Roman military resources. In response, Rome mobilized a massive force and crushed the rebellion with an unprecedented assault on Judaea's Jewish population,[39][40] mass enslavement and displacement,[41] the destruction of the Judaean countryside,[42] and a ban on Jewish practices, which remained in effect until Hadrian's death in 138.[43] Judaea was renamedSyria Palaestina.[44]
