The Redemption of Zion: a TL of the Great Revolt
- Thread starter AsenionCactus
- Start date
Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
That sounds ridiculous. You want to do your own timeline with a premise like his, do it but don't appropriate this guy's thing due to your own impatience.
I wasn't appealing to take over his timeline myself, I was just hoping that someone someday does. But yes, the similar premise route seems preferable.
I think he headed for a more large-scale and finally more united revolt, perhaps spreading, until, as the title indicated, Jerusalem could be liberated from Roman rule, like Germania after Varus' defeat.
But one of the best things about this timeline was that you didn't know that yet, that things didn't evolve too predictably.
But one of the best things about this timeline was that you didn't know that yet, that things didn't evolve too predictably.
fi11222
Banned
The amount of envy, and hence of fractional hatred, generated by the messianic spirit is everywhere apparent in this story, both IOTL and ITTL. Wen what is at stake is to be THE KING backed by the only God, no wonder people are looking at each other askance.
Can there be a way to overcome this inherent drawback in a movement dominated by messianic zeal ? It will be a tall order. The Jewish population in Palestine is simply too small in comparison to the Roman Empire to resist on its own. Even when they were united in 135 under Bar Kokhba, they were crushed by the sheer numbers of the Roman army.
The Middle-East did not witness a truly successful messianic army until the Abbasids took over the Caliphate in the 8th century. At the time, the muslims had a crucial advantage: anybody could become a Muslim and the headcount was therefore potentially unlimited. Of course, this is impossible in Judaism.
IMHO, the only hope for the Jewish rebels to avoid slaughter, regardless of whether or not they manage to unite, is a Parthian intervention. Yet, if they manage to come up with a single leader, this might help convince the Persians to support them ?
Last edited:
Parthian help is a good idea.
But conversion to Judaism was a common thing, too. A high threshild was circumcision. And you didnt enter the traditional elites, but then again, there was always the useful myth of the lost tribes.
But in this timeline, there was no hint towards greater proselytisation.
But conversion to Judaism was a common thing, too. A high threshild was circumcision. And you didnt enter the traditional elites, but then again, there was always the useful myth of the lost tribes.
But in this timeline, there was no hint towards greater proselytisation.
Sorry for not updating recently. I'm fine. I was distracted by the holidays/midterms/school stuff and didn't work as much on this as I would have liked to. Thanks for all the kind words!
Vespasian was determined not to subject his army to the long boredom of siege, only punctuated by grisly bouts of violence. It was already the beginning of September, a month after the fall of Jotapata, The Galilee needed to be pacified completely before winter came in November, turning the roads into sodden messes. Otherwise, Vespasian would have to leave more than just a garrison, diverting crucial manpower from his primary objective.
The Romans paraded in all their finery, awing even the most pious Zealot with their smooth coordination and obvious skills. Scattered religious fanatics and small time bandits were not the audience that Vespasian had in mind when flexing his military might. Tiberias had been founded by a Hellenized Jew, and named after a Roman Emperor, and even after Jesus ben Shapat had taken over, a substantial portion of the populace favored Roman rule. Vespasian was encouraging would be traitors and saboteurs with his actions.
As the Romans camped for the night, in an uncharacteristically temporary setup, the city stirred. Muffled oars stirred the glassy surface of the Sea of Galilee, as some fled the doomed city, escaping before they could be killed, while others entered the city, reinforcing Jesus’ men. The same chaos prevailed inside the city, as Jesus, though preeminent among the rebel leaders, had no absolute authority. He was a clever man, a learned scholar devoted to his religion and his people, and a confident leader. He was also in a nasty bind. Jesus had gained the allegiance of his followers after conducting a sudden raid on the Roman envoys come to deliver Vespasian’s message of mollification. His men expected him to be as boisterously bold in defending Tiberias during a siege, and had their imaginations inflamed even more by the fables of the superhuman deeds Joseph was supposed to have done.
However, Tiberias could not be defended. The same beloved Joseph had rightfully mistrusted the people of Tiberias, having almost been murdered by a rowdy mob there, and had allocated much of the funds for building walls to nearby Tarichae. Even if Jesus could protect the walls adequately, he still would have to turn the mass of small fishing boats at his disposal into a navy that could protect the harbor as well. He had to do this all with less manpower and resources than the Roman army had, all while cementing his unsteady dominance over the other factions and watching out for the inevitable traitors. To him, looking objectively, Tarichae had fewer of these problems and Jesus wished to retreat to there for any final confrontation. Many of his men were native Tiberians though, that feuded with the base Tarichaeans, and would react quite poorly to their commander deserting them.
View of a gate of Tiberias. (Taken from Wikipedia)
So Jesus stayed. He could see from the walls that Vespasian had ordered Cerialias to construct a navy. Titus’s condition had taken a turn for the worse, as his jaw would not unlock and he would spasm uncontrollably at times. Seeing his son suffer, Vespasian had no inclination to be overly merciful. Nero had hinted that he might need some workers to dig his Corinthian canal, and some of the Jews would merely spend a life enslaved there. The rest would suffer worse fates.
As Roman siege engines were erected, ships were built, and soldiers got into formation, Jesus was desperate for a defensive plan. The next day was a Sabbath, and despite the numerous rabbinic injunctions allowing Jews to defend themselves on the day of rest, Jesus never felt comfortable violating God’s commandments that brazenly. Instead, boxed in by peer pressure and enemy arms, Jesus decided to strike first. He planned an impromptu raid on the Romans, more to cement his position than to harm the enemy.
It was the third day of the siege, so the inevitable sortie emerging from Tiberias surprised Vespasian little. Usually in these cases, the defenders would use their maneuverability and surprise to strike the siege works. As the Jews unexpectedly charged into the Roman camps, the professional soldiers held their ground. The light javelins and the speeding slingshot only dissuaded them momentarily, long enough for cohorts to be organized and a counter attack begun.
That would normally have indicated to the Jews to retreat into the safety of the walls, but alas, they found those inhospitable as well. While engaged in battle, the elders of Tiberias, a cosmopolitan bunch who enjoyed profit and not bloodshed, had exploited the Zealot skirmish to attempt to seize control of the city. Jesus found himself in a singularly uncomfortable position, locked out of his own city until his remaining men inside could take it, all while facing down the bulk of three legions. Even worse, the sortiers were separated and couldn’t even present a united front by which to make a last stand. He frantically attempted to cajole his countrymen to let him inside, as the Roman advanced toward him.
Realizing the futility of his current situation, Jesus retreated toward his open hope of safety: the water. Already the leading edge of the Roman line had reached the furthermost gate, and were getting into the city. With the pursuing legionnaires closing in, the remnant of the Zealot sortie leaped into the lake and splashed their way to Tiberias’ harbor. Jesus and his men scrambled onto the boats, fleeing onto the diminutive lake, abandoning the city to Roman repercussion. Rather than row the roughly 10 kilometers north to Tarichae, Jesus had loftier ambitions. Jerusalem was in turmoil as radicals and Zealots questioned the impotent provisional government, ripe conditions for armed men from the countryside to achieve great things. The few boats that held the cream of the Tiberian rebels turned south.
Boat on the Galilee like the fishing vessels the Jesus ben Shapat might have used to escape. (Taken from this page.)
After a swift and painless siege where they welcomed with open arms the belligerent Romans, the hopeful inhabitants of Tiberias expected some leniency on the part of Vespasian. He considered his options. Jotapata had been reduced to shattered ruins for its obstinacy. Most of the bandits who had garrisoned Tiberias had been slaughtered outside the city walls, and the rest of the overt rebels had fled or been captured. However, Vespasian was tormented with frequent reminders of the barbarity of the Jews via his son, and he was not inclined to show mercy. He did have to grudgingly admit the libels that would be spewed about his men if he slaughtered a town that surrender to him. Ever the rationalist, Vespasian put aside his feelings and previous sworn vows on the matter. He spared the newly wall less Tiberias, after taking the maximal number of slaves and inflicting the maximal damage without risking propaganda value.
A Ship Which Was Going To Tarshish
Vespasian was determined not to subject his army to the long boredom of siege, only punctuated by grisly bouts of violence. It was already the beginning of September, a month after the fall of Jotapata, The Galilee needed to be pacified completely before winter came in November, turning the roads into sodden messes. Otherwise, Vespasian would have to leave more than just a garrison, diverting crucial manpower from his primary objective.
The Romans paraded in all their finery, awing even the most pious Zealot with their smooth coordination and obvious skills. Scattered religious fanatics and small time bandits were not the audience that Vespasian had in mind when flexing his military might. Tiberias had been founded by a Hellenized Jew, and named after a Roman Emperor, and even after Jesus ben Shapat had taken over, a substantial portion of the populace favored Roman rule. Vespasian was encouraging would be traitors and saboteurs with his actions.
As the Romans camped for the night, in an uncharacteristically temporary setup, the city stirred. Muffled oars stirred the glassy surface of the Sea of Galilee, as some fled the doomed city, escaping before they could be killed, while others entered the city, reinforcing Jesus’ men. The same chaos prevailed inside the city, as Jesus, though preeminent among the rebel leaders, had no absolute authority. He was a clever man, a learned scholar devoted to his religion and his people, and a confident leader. He was also in a nasty bind. Jesus had gained the allegiance of his followers after conducting a sudden raid on the Roman envoys come to deliver Vespasian’s message of mollification. His men expected him to be as boisterously bold in defending Tiberias during a siege, and had their imaginations inflamed even more by the fables of the superhuman deeds Joseph was supposed to have done.
However, Tiberias could not be defended. The same beloved Joseph had rightfully mistrusted the people of Tiberias, having almost been murdered by a rowdy mob there, and had allocated much of the funds for building walls to nearby Tarichae. Even if Jesus could protect the walls adequately, he still would have to turn the mass of small fishing boats at his disposal into a navy that could protect the harbor as well. He had to do this all with less manpower and resources than the Roman army had, all while cementing his unsteady dominance over the other factions and watching out for the inevitable traitors. To him, looking objectively, Tarichae had fewer of these problems and Jesus wished to retreat to there for any final confrontation. Many of his men were native Tiberians though, that feuded with the base Tarichaeans, and would react quite poorly to their commander deserting them.
View of a gate of Tiberias. (Taken from Wikipedia)
So Jesus stayed. He could see from the walls that Vespasian had ordered Cerialias to construct a navy. Titus’s condition had taken a turn for the worse, as his jaw would not unlock and he would spasm uncontrollably at times. Seeing his son suffer, Vespasian had no inclination to be overly merciful. Nero had hinted that he might need some workers to dig his Corinthian canal, and some of the Jews would merely spend a life enslaved there. The rest would suffer worse fates.
As Roman siege engines were erected, ships were built, and soldiers got into formation, Jesus was desperate for a defensive plan. The next day was a Sabbath, and despite the numerous rabbinic injunctions allowing Jews to defend themselves on the day of rest, Jesus never felt comfortable violating God’s commandments that brazenly. Instead, boxed in by peer pressure and enemy arms, Jesus decided to strike first. He planned an impromptu raid on the Romans, more to cement his position than to harm the enemy.
It was the third day of the siege, so the inevitable sortie emerging from Tiberias surprised Vespasian little. Usually in these cases, the defenders would use their maneuverability and surprise to strike the siege works. As the Jews unexpectedly charged into the Roman camps, the professional soldiers held their ground. The light javelins and the speeding slingshot only dissuaded them momentarily, long enough for cohorts to be organized and a counter attack begun.
That would normally have indicated to the Jews to retreat into the safety of the walls, but alas, they found those inhospitable as well. While engaged in battle, the elders of Tiberias, a cosmopolitan bunch who enjoyed profit and not bloodshed, had exploited the Zealot skirmish to attempt to seize control of the city. Jesus found himself in a singularly uncomfortable position, locked out of his own city until his remaining men inside could take it, all while facing down the bulk of three legions. Even worse, the sortiers were separated and couldn’t even present a united front by which to make a last stand. He frantically attempted to cajole his countrymen to let him inside, as the Roman advanced toward him.
Realizing the futility of his current situation, Jesus retreated toward his open hope of safety: the water. Already the leading edge of the Roman line had reached the furthermost gate, and were getting into the city. With the pursuing legionnaires closing in, the remnant of the Zealot sortie leaped into the lake and splashed their way to Tiberias’ harbor. Jesus and his men scrambled onto the boats, fleeing onto the diminutive lake, abandoning the city to Roman repercussion. Rather than row the roughly 10 kilometers north to Tarichae, Jesus had loftier ambitions. Jerusalem was in turmoil as radicals and Zealots questioned the impotent provisional government, ripe conditions for armed men from the countryside to achieve great things. The few boats that held the cream of the Tiberian rebels turned south.
Boat on the Galilee like the fishing vessels the Jesus ben Shapat might have used to escape. (Taken from this page.)
After a swift and painless siege where they welcomed with open arms the belligerent Romans, the hopeful inhabitants of Tiberias expected some leniency on the part of Vespasian. He considered his options. Jotapata had been reduced to shattered ruins for its obstinacy. Most of the bandits who had garrisoned Tiberias had been slaughtered outside the city walls, and the rest of the overt rebels had fled or been captured. However, Vespasian was tormented with frequent reminders of the barbarity of the Jews via his son, and he was not inclined to show mercy. He did have to grudgingly admit the libels that would be spewed about his men if he slaughtered a town that surrender to him. Ever the rationalist, Vespasian put aside his feelings and previous sworn vows on the matter. He spared the newly wall less Tiberias, after taking the maximal number of slaves and inflicting the maximal damage without risking propaganda value.
Back to daily updates (at least for the next couple weeks)!
Now only four Jewish strongholds remained independent in the Galilee; Tarichae, Mount Tabor, Gamla, and Gischala. Of those residual bastions, Tarichae was closest to the Romans, and was an especially promising target for the Roman army could recycle the nascent navy it had built to take Tiberias, as Tarichae was also located on the Sea of Galilee.
Another benefit, unknown to the Romans, was that the Tarichaean defenders had not coalesced around any significant leader. The late Joseph ben Mattiyahu's most trusted deputy Jeremiah commanded some of the men, but his upper class pedigree and Sadducee leanings made him suspect to the overwhelming mass of Pharisaic Galileans who populated the city. Despite no one person gaining unequaled prominence, Tarichae was no hotbed of anarchy. It had transitioned rather smoothly into revolution, supported by the existing power structure of traditional elders and rabbis who were remained respected enough to lead. Though these men will no less prone to bickering amongst themselves, the cities fortifications were more solidly built than Jotapata and its populace more stoutly defensive then the waffling Tiberians, as there was no fifth column that undermined the security of the city.
The Romans paraded to the marked city. They meticulously organized their camp on the gentle lapping shore of the Lake. The Roman’s expected a prolonged siege, as Vespasian’s harshness toward Tiberias only further motivated the fanatical populace, and the martyrdom of the Jotapata's still provided an illuminating motivation. By the Ides of September, the first Roman assault was launched by Cerilias, temporary commander of the army. Vespasian had left to meet with his nominal superior, the new governor of Syria.
Emperor Nero, recognizing the need for a governor of Syria to replace the deceased and disgraced Cestius Gallus had appointed a man by the name Gaius Licinius Mucianus. Mucianus was an experienced military officer who had served under the great Corbulo during the recent Parthian war alongside Trajan. He was a little cocky, but respected Vespasian, and was generally well intentioned. Even though in an novel precedent, the governor of Syria did not technically outrank the Prefect of Judea, Vespasian still felt it prudent that he make the journey to Antioch to congratulate Mucianus and confer with him. The siege of Tarichae would have to go on without Vespasian’s personal presence. Vespasian would have liked to leave Titus in command, but even six weeks after narrowly escaping an untimely demise, Titus was not fully recovered. Vespasian thus only had one true choice, as Trajan still was scouring the coast for pirates. Cerialias was the legate left in charge of the majority of the Roman forces.
The Tarichaean defenders did not need to be as fanatically devoted. Tarichae was the center of the Galilee fishing industry, and as such had an ample supply of boats that could expedite retreat. To prevent the dispersal of Jewish irregulars, the Roman’s would have to attempt to take the city in one fell swoop, or risk gaining an empty husk. Cerialias’ first two assaults on the city were repulsed strongly, as Cerialias had strategically used his green native auxiliaries, attempting to conserve trained men. Throngs of disorganized militiamen carrying ladders had attempted to scale the walls, only to be repelled by enemy projectiles and prepared defenders. After those two failed attempts, the determined Cerialias was prepared to attack again. King Agrippa's men informed him off of a holiday when Rome might at truly attack because of lax Jewish security. He would attempt to utilize the defenders stringent Jewish observance of this "Day of the Shofar", this"Rosh Hashanah" to increase his odds of victory.
The Temple in Jerusalem was the apex of Jewish ritual. Every Jewish male was obligated to visit it thrice each year for holidays and to bring various offering for life events and for some transgressions. This was a big hassle, especially for Jews who didn’t live close by, like the Galilean Jews of Tarichae. In the outlying areas of the diaspora and Judea, a new institution called the synagogue had been developed which become a local center of Jewish life. In it, the Torah was read, the Sabbath was observed, and the local rabbi’s taught their interpretation of the bare text to new generations. Tarichae had a particular grand synagogue. It was large with vivid impressionistic mosaics, and imposing carvings of Temple artifacts.
Some of the decorations at the Synagogue in Tarichae
Cerialias had been informed that of the minor Jewish holiday, the Feast of Trumpets. This imminent holiday was supposedly when world was created and the Jews would abstain from working on the holiday, as per every Sabbath. He hoped that enough defenders would be distracted by religious duty that he could finally overcome the walls. If not, Cerialias would finally have to hunker down and perform the painstakingly boring minutiae of conducting a siege, something that he had absolutely no patience for.
The clarion call of the shofar warbled. Jews were almost done davening the morning service. The heartfelt cry was directed to God in heaven above, but was also heard by Romans doffing their arms outside the gates. God showed no indication of stirring, but Cerialias’s men knew the significance of the shofar call. Right now, the walls looked almost abandoned, but that window of opportunity would soon pass. Services were concluding, and the Jews would return to the wall momentarily.
The Romans swarmed forward. They encountered no resistance climbing the walls, dodged no heavy rocks tumbling toward prone bodies, no javelins whistling through the air. The first legionaries peeked over the ramparts eagerly, already savoring the spoils that awaited them. Tarichae was no Rome, nor even a Jerusalem, but it certainly was large enough to plunder quite satisfactorily.
Wrapped up in hedonistic fantasies, the first of the overconfident ambushers climbed onto the wall. Their bloodthirsty brethren below listened attentively for any signs of trouble. The chaotic sounds of war ruined the hopeful soldier’s dreams of a relatively peaceful pillaging. Somehow, the Jews had prepared for the impeding attack.
Jeremiah and his men professed complete apathy toward the celebration of the Day of Trumpets in any locale outside the holy Temple. Time was better spent on the more pressing matter, the siege. Jeremiah reckoned that Cerialias would be primed to attack on a day when he thought the Jewish garrison would be almost non-existent. Jeremiah had commanded his partisans to move stealthily and to make it appear that the wall was not garrisoned, in order to lull Cerialias into a false sense of security. It had obviously worked.
The few Romans who had climbed onto the rough stone ramparts, found themselves slaughtered by passionate defenders. The hitherto missing projectiles whizzed downward, and boiling oil poured on the lines of men climbing up on ladders, as the organized assault rapidly fell into disarray.
Defeat appeared certain, and many of Cerialias’s deputies, notably Placidus and Nicanor, urged him to withdraw for another day, to prevent the embarrassing specter of yet another rout. Why not wait until Vespasian returns to rally the troops? Cerialias refused to listen. He shrugged off their advice, feeling the awesome responsibility of commanding illustrious Roman legions. His men were already on the offensive, already attempting to open the gates of the city, which was half the work of any campaign. Even if thoroughly rebuffed, the Jews in the city could not exercise any retributory abilities, as everyone involved knew the Jews would be annihilated in any outright battle. Ignoring apparent common sense, Cerialias commanded even more soldiers to mount the assault. Even men on guard duty were instructed to enter the fray. This was no time for hesitating indecision, nor cowardly retreat. The city was on its last legs.
On the walls, slickened with blood, more and more legionnaires clawed their way up past determined Jewish resistance. Despite their best effort, individual Jews could simply not vie equally with the Romans. Wearing heavier armor, wielding better weapons, endlessly drilled to be inhumanly disciplined, the Romans just needed some slim foothold onto the wall to seal the fate of Tarichae.
What had saved Tarichae during the previous two assaults had been the plain truth of sheer numbers. When faced with an endless throng of defenders, the rickety assailants had no choice but to resentfully retreat. Now, despite Jeremiah’s sensible precautions, the walls were just lightly manned enough to allow the one sided defeat to transition into a bloody clash. Tarichae would be decided by pure logistics, whether the Jews leaving the synagogue could don their gear and arrive to turn the tide before the gates of the city were opened.
It was a close thing. It was ultimately futile. Cerialias entered the city a conqueror, assured of a glorious triumph. His victory was incomplete, as the panicked Jews fled to the lakeshore, to their gently bobbing ships, hoping to escape the doomed city, departing in the thousands to abscond to scant shelters.
Cerialias forbade his men from sacking the city right then, as they would customarily do, instead ordering them to pursue the Jews. A naval victory now would virtually wipe out all resistance in the Galilee, allowing Vespasian to finally march on the Judean heartland itself. It would also incidentally burnish Cerialias’ reputation by a not inconsiderable amount.
His tribunes gathered their reluctant cohorts, and plodded towards the motley Roman armada. Billowing clouds of smoke and steam greeted them, as charred rafts disintegrated in the blue waters. The arsonists had an easy job. Most of the guards who had been assigned to protect the boats had been ordered to join in on the final assault, and the paltry few that remained on duty had been Syrian auxiliaries, who abandoned their posts so they could loot the city.
Watching as any chance for a total victory burned away, as the fleeing Jewish flotilla became a distant smear on the lake, holding jaded men ready to cause more trouble for the Roman, Cerialias angrily ordered Tarichae razed to the ground. Any native left within had the most unsavory choices of death, slavery, sadism, or an unpleasant medley of the three. In the square outside the ornate synagogue, an impromptu slave market was assembled, as the wailing woman and children were divvied up among Roman soldiers. Eventually, when the city’s wealth had been taken, and it lay bare, Cerialias signaled to his men for the outlet of any latent pyromaniacal tendencies. They neither knew nor cared about the irony of destroying a city on the head of the year, on the anniversary of creation. The synagogue was the first building to be set aflame, and the ravenous fire raced across the city, consuming all.
A Day of Blowing the Shofar
Now only four Jewish strongholds remained independent in the Galilee; Tarichae, Mount Tabor, Gamla, and Gischala. Of those residual bastions, Tarichae was closest to the Romans, and was an especially promising target for the Roman army could recycle the nascent navy it had built to take Tiberias, as Tarichae was also located on the Sea of Galilee.
Another benefit, unknown to the Romans, was that the Tarichaean defenders had not coalesced around any significant leader. The late Joseph ben Mattiyahu's most trusted deputy Jeremiah commanded some of the men, but his upper class pedigree and Sadducee leanings made him suspect to the overwhelming mass of Pharisaic Galileans who populated the city. Despite no one person gaining unequaled prominence, Tarichae was no hotbed of anarchy. It had transitioned rather smoothly into revolution, supported by the existing power structure of traditional elders and rabbis who were remained respected enough to lead. Though these men will no less prone to bickering amongst themselves, the cities fortifications were more solidly built than Jotapata and its populace more stoutly defensive then the waffling Tiberians, as there was no fifth column that undermined the security of the city.
The Romans paraded to the marked city. They meticulously organized their camp on the gentle lapping shore of the Lake. The Roman’s expected a prolonged siege, as Vespasian’s harshness toward Tiberias only further motivated the fanatical populace, and the martyrdom of the Jotapata's still provided an illuminating motivation. By the Ides of September, the first Roman assault was launched by Cerilias, temporary commander of the army. Vespasian had left to meet with his nominal superior, the new governor of Syria.
Emperor Nero, recognizing the need for a governor of Syria to replace the deceased and disgraced Cestius Gallus had appointed a man by the name Gaius Licinius Mucianus. Mucianus was an experienced military officer who had served under the great Corbulo during the recent Parthian war alongside Trajan. He was a little cocky, but respected Vespasian, and was generally well intentioned. Even though in an novel precedent, the governor of Syria did not technically outrank the Prefect of Judea, Vespasian still felt it prudent that he make the journey to Antioch to congratulate Mucianus and confer with him. The siege of Tarichae would have to go on without Vespasian’s personal presence. Vespasian would have liked to leave Titus in command, but even six weeks after narrowly escaping an untimely demise, Titus was not fully recovered. Vespasian thus only had one true choice, as Trajan still was scouring the coast for pirates. Cerialias was the legate left in charge of the majority of the Roman forces.
The Tarichaean defenders did not need to be as fanatically devoted. Tarichae was the center of the Galilee fishing industry, and as such had an ample supply of boats that could expedite retreat. To prevent the dispersal of Jewish irregulars, the Roman’s would have to attempt to take the city in one fell swoop, or risk gaining an empty husk. Cerialias’ first two assaults on the city were repulsed strongly, as Cerialias had strategically used his green native auxiliaries, attempting to conserve trained men. Throngs of disorganized militiamen carrying ladders had attempted to scale the walls, only to be repelled by enemy projectiles and prepared defenders. After those two failed attempts, the determined Cerialias was prepared to attack again. King Agrippa's men informed him off of a holiday when Rome might at truly attack because of lax Jewish security. He would attempt to utilize the defenders stringent Jewish observance of this "Day of the Shofar", this"Rosh Hashanah" to increase his odds of victory.
The Temple in Jerusalem was the apex of Jewish ritual. Every Jewish male was obligated to visit it thrice each year for holidays and to bring various offering for life events and for some transgressions. This was a big hassle, especially for Jews who didn’t live close by, like the Galilean Jews of Tarichae. In the outlying areas of the diaspora and Judea, a new institution called the synagogue had been developed which become a local center of Jewish life. In it, the Torah was read, the Sabbath was observed, and the local rabbi’s taught their interpretation of the bare text to new generations. Tarichae had a particular grand synagogue. It was large with vivid impressionistic mosaics, and imposing carvings of Temple artifacts.
Some of the decorations at the Synagogue in Tarichae
Cerialias had been informed that of the minor Jewish holiday, the Feast of Trumpets. This imminent holiday was supposedly when world was created and the Jews would abstain from working on the holiday, as per every Sabbath. He hoped that enough defenders would be distracted by religious duty that he could finally overcome the walls. If not, Cerialias would finally have to hunker down and perform the painstakingly boring minutiae of conducting a siege, something that he had absolutely no patience for.
The clarion call of the shofar warbled. Jews were almost done davening the morning service. The heartfelt cry was directed to God in heaven above, but was also heard by Romans doffing their arms outside the gates. God showed no indication of stirring, but Cerialias’s men knew the significance of the shofar call. Right now, the walls looked almost abandoned, but that window of opportunity would soon pass. Services were concluding, and the Jews would return to the wall momentarily.
The Romans swarmed forward. They encountered no resistance climbing the walls, dodged no heavy rocks tumbling toward prone bodies, no javelins whistling through the air. The first legionaries peeked over the ramparts eagerly, already savoring the spoils that awaited them. Tarichae was no Rome, nor even a Jerusalem, but it certainly was large enough to plunder quite satisfactorily.
Wrapped up in hedonistic fantasies, the first of the overconfident ambushers climbed onto the wall. Their bloodthirsty brethren below listened attentively for any signs of trouble. The chaotic sounds of war ruined the hopeful soldier’s dreams of a relatively peaceful pillaging. Somehow, the Jews had prepared for the impeding attack.
Jeremiah and his men professed complete apathy toward the celebration of the Day of Trumpets in any locale outside the holy Temple. Time was better spent on the more pressing matter, the siege. Jeremiah reckoned that Cerialias would be primed to attack on a day when he thought the Jewish garrison would be almost non-existent. Jeremiah had commanded his partisans to move stealthily and to make it appear that the wall was not garrisoned, in order to lull Cerialias into a false sense of security. It had obviously worked.
The few Romans who had climbed onto the rough stone ramparts, found themselves slaughtered by passionate defenders. The hitherto missing projectiles whizzed downward, and boiling oil poured on the lines of men climbing up on ladders, as the organized assault rapidly fell into disarray.
Defeat appeared certain, and many of Cerialias’s deputies, notably Placidus and Nicanor, urged him to withdraw for another day, to prevent the embarrassing specter of yet another rout. Why not wait until Vespasian returns to rally the troops? Cerialias refused to listen. He shrugged off their advice, feeling the awesome responsibility of commanding illustrious Roman legions. His men were already on the offensive, already attempting to open the gates of the city, which was half the work of any campaign. Even if thoroughly rebuffed, the Jews in the city could not exercise any retributory abilities, as everyone involved knew the Jews would be annihilated in any outright battle. Ignoring apparent common sense, Cerialias commanded even more soldiers to mount the assault. Even men on guard duty were instructed to enter the fray. This was no time for hesitating indecision, nor cowardly retreat. The city was on its last legs.
On the walls, slickened with blood, more and more legionnaires clawed their way up past determined Jewish resistance. Despite their best effort, individual Jews could simply not vie equally with the Romans. Wearing heavier armor, wielding better weapons, endlessly drilled to be inhumanly disciplined, the Romans just needed some slim foothold onto the wall to seal the fate of Tarichae.
What had saved Tarichae during the previous two assaults had been the plain truth of sheer numbers. When faced with an endless throng of defenders, the rickety assailants had no choice but to resentfully retreat. Now, despite Jeremiah’s sensible precautions, the walls were just lightly manned enough to allow the one sided defeat to transition into a bloody clash. Tarichae would be decided by pure logistics, whether the Jews leaving the synagogue could don their gear and arrive to turn the tide before the gates of the city were opened.
It was a close thing. It was ultimately futile. Cerialias entered the city a conqueror, assured of a glorious triumph. His victory was incomplete, as the panicked Jews fled to the lakeshore, to their gently bobbing ships, hoping to escape the doomed city, departing in the thousands to abscond to scant shelters.
Cerialias forbade his men from sacking the city right then, as they would customarily do, instead ordering them to pursue the Jews. A naval victory now would virtually wipe out all resistance in the Galilee, allowing Vespasian to finally march on the Judean heartland itself. It would also incidentally burnish Cerialias’ reputation by a not inconsiderable amount.
His tribunes gathered their reluctant cohorts, and plodded towards the motley Roman armada. Billowing clouds of smoke and steam greeted them, as charred rafts disintegrated in the blue waters. The arsonists had an easy job. Most of the guards who had been assigned to protect the boats had been ordered to join in on the final assault, and the paltry few that remained on duty had been Syrian auxiliaries, who abandoned their posts so they could loot the city.
Watching as any chance for a total victory burned away, as the fleeing Jewish flotilla became a distant smear on the lake, holding jaded men ready to cause more trouble for the Roman, Cerialias angrily ordered Tarichae razed to the ground. Any native left within had the most unsavory choices of death, slavery, sadism, or an unpleasant medley of the three. In the square outside the ornate synagogue, an impromptu slave market was assembled, as the wailing woman and children were divvied up among Roman soldiers. Eventually, when the city’s wealth had been taken, and it lay bare, Cerialias signaled to his men for the outlet of any latent pyromaniacal tendencies. They neither knew nor cared about the irony of destroying a city on the head of the year, on the anniversary of creation. The synagogue was the first building to be set aflame, and the ravenous fire raced across the city, consuming all.
Yay, One of my absolute favourites is back! And another magnificent installment.
I don't know how the Jews could prevail, either, but that's part of the breathtaking suspense of this TL.
I don't know how the Jews could prevail, either, but that's part of the breathtaking suspense of this TL.
Judge the Mount of Esau
Vespasian returned from his meeting with Mucianus slightly irritated and more than slightly worried. He had no stomach for the complex political interplay between the Emperor and the Senate, despising the figures whose sole purpose was to gain more power via some shadowy machinations. Nero might be a despicable miscreant who preferred to play the part of a particularly amateur actor instead of acting as a rightful Imperator should, but the rumors of war were too much. Mucianus had told him, in a confidential whisper, that many in Rome longed for the reinstatement of the Republic, that it would take one more failure on the part of Nero to resume the civil wars of the last century. Vespasian doubted that sincerely. Even Caligula, more obnoxiously brash and offensive than the simply uxoricidal Nero, had been replaced by another Emperor in the line of Caesar. A civil war would only serve to complicate Vespasian’s campaign in Judea, and possibly threaten his life if he picked the wrong allegiance.
Arriving at the walls of the wrecked city, Vespasian noted that all that remained of the once beauteous Tarichae were charred embers, still warm. A cursory glance at the collapsed walls, the dwellings reduced to bare foundations, where the last wisps of smoke ebbed out of the strewn ashen clay indicated the end of any resistance from this former stronghold. Vespasian could not condone the methods Cerialias had used, preferring to use more patient techniques himself, but he could not help but to feel satisfied by the magnitude of suffering visited upon the rebellious Jews. He had shown a modicum of mercy towards Tiberias, even with the painful reminder of his son’s condition constantly beside him. Maybe the Jews learned better from a harsher approach. Titus’ pain would be repaid in scorched cities.
There would not be many more opportunities to rain down death and destruction on the Jews. Roman forces had satisfactorily shrunken the Galilean front. The major metropolises were all occupied by Vespasian’s men, the remaining rebel towns of Gamla, Gischala, and Mt. Tabor could be called “important” only in the strategic sense, having held no political or religious significance aside from outlasting their unfortunate brethren. Across most of the Galilee, only disorganized country bandits still lurked to threaten Roman hegemony. The responsible folks were busy harvesting the fall crops, crouching in the fields as they gathered the last of the grapes that would ferment into wine, picking the few remaining fig’s, gathering the first bumper crop of olives that would be pressed into oil. The simmering discontent among the peasants had died down from its explosive peak, but the fervent religio-nationalistic combination remained a potent creed across the Galilee.
The parched hills of the Galilee, bleached tan by the summer sun, sheltered a collection of rural villages. Families lived in connected houses, with a shared common court. It seldom rained outside the winter months, allowing the household to expand from the claustrophobic interior into the court during the summer months, providing a place for socializing when the laborious work of farming was done for the day.
The plan of a complex unearthed in Capernaum. Each lettered house had its own nuclear family by this time in history. (Picture from Apocalypse: the Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome)
Each little village was an insular entity, a world to itself. They ranged in population from a few hundred to a few thousand, but lacked any public planning. It had no walls, no laid out street system, no official governor, only an informal council of elders and holy men. The men worked as sharecroppers and as small farmers, living on a subsidence level. For the most part, the Galileans were devout Jews, strong partisans of the more theologically reassuring Pharisaic school. Faith sometimes skewed towards extremism, as the Galilee had been the birthplace of the primordial Zealot movement, 60 years ago, and still provided a rich recruiting ground for radical Pharisee’s up through now. The only experience many of the Galilean’s had with the outside world stemmed from the pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, a mandatory commandment, but one that was too expensive to fulfill thrice a year as required.
However, on the occasions that the villagers would set out to the holy city, after navigating cautiously around Samaria and climbing the foothills to Jerusalem, the size of the city and of the Temple impressed them. Jerusalem was a teeming megacity of some 30,000 souls on normal occasions, and that could rise up to almost 100,000 jostling individuals on pilgrimage festivals. Despite the divine glory of the Temple, the profane dichotomy between the poor who slept hungry on the cobbled street, sustained on meager charity and the insincere priests and scholars that frequented the hallowed halls concerned only about wealth served to disillusion many of the pilgrims. Even more distasteful was the snooty, disapproving attitude all Judea’s had to the Galileans, who they regarded as lower class citizens with no spiritual sense, good for nothing but mucking about in the mud. It was no surprise that many Galileans returned from their trip, poorer and more cynical, easy prey to radical preachers who blamed the Romans for moral decay, and who preached about the impeding messianic age.
When the Galilee had joined in the revolt, many of the disaffected villagers had rallied behind Joseph, behind John of Gischala, but less fervent revolutionaries had stayed in their villages, gauging the likelihood of success, joining in with local gangs. After three successive defeats, no matter how morale boasting they were, many of the men who had left the villages had returned, and some places in the Galilee were returning to normalcy. The vast plurality of villages were still technically revolting though, were still refusing to board soldiers or to pay Roman taxes, and Vespasian was not pleased. He did not want to have to act like a local boss, wasting his time on a bunch of scattered hamlets. He also did not want to have the ominous specter of guerrilla's attacking his rear, sabotaging Roman supply lines for the crucial siege on Jerusalem. That took up more precedence, and reluctantly, Vespasian split up his army even more, assigning a recovering Titus, aided by the competent Placidus to mop up operations in the Galilee while Vespasian focused on reducing the remaining cities.
So Titus, after surviving a crucifixion, is still involved in the war? I'd thought Vespasian would have shipped him off to Rome or somewhere to fully recover, you don't just shrug off a crucifixion and say "'Tis just a flesh wound!".
But aside from that minor issue, this is an interesting TL, I for one don't know what outcome you're going for here. Alas, Josephus died, heh.
But aside from that minor issue, this is an interesting TL, I for one don't know what outcome you're going for here. Alas, Josephus died, heh.
I especially loved the tableau of Galillean (and Jerusalem´s) society. Instils vivid imagination and explains a lot.
I struggled mightily deciding Titus' fate. If I rewrote the TL, I would probably have Titus injured in a more mundane fashion, one that does not require outside explanations. I know that Josephus wrote that:
but I figured Titus would be the lucky third. My rationale for having Titus still serve as a commander is the following: the fall of Jotapata happened towards the end of July, and the Tarichae fell around the middle of October, almost 10 weeks later. Titus was infected with tetanus and possibly other diseases, but he was a young, healthy man who was given treatement immediately, allowing him to eventually recover. One reason that Titus was not sent to Rome was because that would require a month long journey that could exarcebate his condition. Anither reason is that Vespasian was a protective father who did not want to leave Titus' bedside, and possibly never see his son alive again. Thus the ailing Titus was left at Caeserea when the Romans passed by it to go to Jaffa, where he rested until he recovered sufficiently to rejoin the army. Vespasian hurried Titus' return, eager to have his son gain a measure of renown and motivate the troops by returning from near death. Vespasian was still careful, as always, and assigned Titus to the relatively easy task of holding conquered territory and wiping away rebel bands.
I hope that answers your questions! If want to ask me anything else, I'd be glad to answer it.
Thanks! I wasn't sure if people would apprciate an update less focused on the war.
Ah, I see , you've answered my concern on that one, thank you. As I said, its a minor issue, the rest of your timeline is great. More please
