Well, you have gained my attention Sir, I'm going to follow this and see where it goes
The Redemption of Zion: a TL of the Great Revolt
- Thread starter AsenionCactus
- Start date
Just wanted to say that I nominated this TL for a Turtledove.
(Egoistically hoping that it will be continued this year, too.)
(Egoistically hoping that it will be continued this year, too.)
Just wanted to say that I nominated this TL for a Turtledove.
(Egoistically hoping that it will be continued this year, too.)
I wouldn't mind this. I learned so much stuff about the Jewish Revolt through this TL. I really am curious to see how bad this will hit Rome, and what Parthia might do because of this.
The timeline is back! Sorry about not updating recently. I should be able to remedy that for a least a little while as I empty out the reserves. Right now, I'll answer some of the longstanding questions.
Thanks! I’d love any feedback anyone has to offer.
Regarding Parthian Jewry, I feel that I have blurred the distinction between the kingdom of Adiabene and Babylonian Judaism, both of whose vested interest in the Jewish Revolt stemmed from different motivations. Adiabene was a Jewish kingdom in that its ethnically Iranian monarchs were temporarily Jewish converts. Its populace was not majority Jewish, rather most were Syriac speaking Assyrians. As the king of a state which bordered Roman and that also had to cater to Vologases, King Monobaz could not afford foreign blunders. He could send troops in small amounts, but entering in the en masse would result in full on Persian-Jewish wars. Babylonian Jewry had the Rosh HaGalut, the Exilarch, as a punitive leader, but were not organized militarily. The Jews who ventured to Judea left of their own volition, for religious or nationalistic reasons. The majority provided no real advantages over the local Judeans, and were simply increasing the numbers. There were a few Mesopotamian Jewish mercenaries left, the remainder of a time when Jewish mercenaries had been more common. Some had settled Judea already, like the Batanean Jews who Herod had placed near Gamla. The rest could be of use.
Up until the part where Vespasian died and the Romans launched their failed counterattack, things were going almost the same as OTL. Josephus, who was a firsthand witness to the battle claimed that "Roman morale had suffered severely. Defeat was unfamiliar, disaster on this scale unprecedented, and the soldiers burned with shame to think that they had left their commander to his fate. But Vespasian consoled them..." (BJ IV, 27) And without as charismatic a commander as Vespasian, the soldiers never were re inspired and continued to refuse to fight.Meshakhad said:
The battle of Gamla took place in November of 67. In late 67, Vindex in Gallia rebelled against Rome with the claimed intentions of replacing Nero with Galba, beginning the anarchy of the Year of the Four emperors. By even the swiftest courtiers Rome is still at least two weeks away from Gamla, but is closer to Gallia. News of both catastrophes should reach Nero around the same time, and although the Roman defeat in Gamla was terrible, senatorial ambitions to replace Nero, as per the Pisonian conspiracy probably take precedence. However, the Judean revolt still needs to be quelled. The year of the Four Emperors will develop differently.Mike Louis said:
That's what this update will be about!Salvador79 said:
altwere said:
ImperatorAnonymous said:
Thanks! I’d love any feedback anyone has to offer.
Mr. Magi said:
Grouchio said:
As you noted, Vologases I had already fought a prolonged war with Rome over the course of his reign. It had ended in a quasi-victory for Parthia with Vologases on friendly terms with Nero . Vologases did not want to fight another war just 5 years later. In OTL he stayed hands off during the Year of the Four Emperors, though he did promise Vespasian assistance. Now, a large portion of his apparently aloof positions were probably due to an inability to react fast enough to make a difference, which will not be the case in this TL, but Vologases was apparently reluctant to commit himself to war. Despite this, Parthia will soon have a very good reason to intervene, and will do so.Mr. Magi said:
Regarding Parthian Jewry, I feel that I have blurred the distinction between the kingdom of Adiabene and Babylonian Judaism, both of whose vested interest in the Jewish Revolt stemmed from different motivations. Adiabene was a Jewish kingdom in that its ethnically Iranian monarchs were temporarily Jewish converts. Its populace was not majority Jewish, rather most were Syriac speaking Assyrians. As the king of a state which bordered Roman and that also had to cater to Vologases, King Monobaz could not afford foreign blunders. He could send troops in small amounts, but entering in the en masse would result in full on Persian-Jewish wars. Babylonian Jewry had the Rosh HaGalut, the Exilarch, as a punitive leader, but were not organized militarily. The Jews who ventured to Judea left of their own volition, for religious or nationalistic reasons. The majority provided no real advantages over the local Judeans, and were simply increasing the numbers. There were a few Mesopotamian Jewish mercenaries left, the remainder of a time when Jewish mercenaries had been more common. Some had settled Judea already, like the Batanean Jews who Herod had placed near Gamla. The rest could be of use.
You pretty much nailed it. In OTL Jotapata was taken by subterfuge in the middle of the night, and the Jewish defenders of the Galilee had a fair amount of bad luck. So far in this timeline, the campaign has cost the Romans more, both in time and in manpower. Things will start to diverge even more so soon enough.BlondieBC said:
Much appreciated! You deserve to win more than I do. Thanks for spurring me to continue to update. This timeline is not yet halfway finished. If everything goes according to plan, I should have regular (i.e daily or at least weekly) updates through mid-May when I should reach as far as I originally planned in my outline. After that, we’ll see how much more I have in me. There comes a certain point when so much has been butterflied away that alternate history verges into make believe, and I for one lose a great deal of interest. I’ll keep writing until I feel that this TL has reached that point.Salvador79 said:
A Spirit of Distortion
The next day was the first chilly day of the season, a miserable day of frigid drizzle and howling northern winds. The distraught Romans were especially despondent in addition to an unexpected defeat in battle, they had been forced to camp in the raw elements because the charred barracks were uninhabitable states. At dawn, the soldiers mechanically reconstructed their camps and buried their comrades. This resigned mood was only faded in the few moments of hushed speculation about which officer would succeed Vespasian. As the somber day of burials and reconstruction dragged on, the mood of the soldiers worsened. Their officers were too busy jockeying for authority to attend to the men they served.
In one of the few camp structures still remaining, Cerialias had been holding a meeting with his subordinates to discuss the Roman plan of action in the aftermath of the battle. Everyone in the room knew Vespasian to be either captured, or more likely dead, and they were all in agreement that the army needed an interim leader until Emperor Nero appointed a new commander. The Romans were also unanimous that Gamla had to be reduced to rubble before retiring for the winter. The only minor disagreement among the officers came over who should lead.
Nicanor, Sextus Calvarius, and Paulinus were the three tribunes from Legion XV, representing the majority of the Roman forces in Gamla. They backed Titus, Vespasian’s son, arguing that the late commander surely would have wanted his eldest son to avenge him. Naturally, Cerialias and the cohorts from Legion V disagreed. Cerialias pointed out that he had been general when Vespasian went on the delegation to see Mucianus, which indicated that he had held Vespasian’s highest regards. He crowed about his successes at Tarichae and his many years of experience.
The politics continued. Titus’ backers denied that Vespasian had ever regarded Cerialias as anything other than a competent servant. Titus' tribunes claimed that Cerialias was only left in command due to their superiors former illness, and Trajan’s already assigned duty. The leadership stalemate dragged on for days, as Cerialias was afraid of losing the support of his men by acting to rashly, and Titus was not on the scene to negotiate a final compromise. During this long inactivity, the Roman army settled into a state of dismal inaction. While the army’s leaders bickered fruitlessly, the rest of the men dressed their wounds and lamented their woes.
Soldiers were getting hungrier and hungrier as the vast army ate through the few remaining provisions. The rest of the food had been burned by the Jews when they raided the camp. Any work on subduing Gamla stopped for the moment, as the soldiers clamored to retire for the winter, preferring the mundane necessity of food to recapturing their lost sacred honor. However, Gamla was in an even worse position. The small town had been utterly wrecked by the successive Roman engagements. Its walls still had outstanding breeches, and its dwelling places had mainly been collapsed, forcing its populace to live in rubble. The rain had washed decaying bodies into Gamla’s one spring, which had become polluted and diseased, spreading disease throughout the town. Even its mikveh had only polluted water. Without the steady discipline of the Roman Quartermasters, the edible items in Gamla were being voraciously consumed. At first, everyone behaved well, but as the days dragged on, fearful men assembled into small bands dedicated only to individual welfare. The unity of purpose had been lost. Gangs of men had stationed themselves around stores of grain and were miserly hording the food for themselves, eating well even as woman and children starved. These men deluded themselves that they were acting to protect the weak by staying fit for defensive actions. Everyone in the town waited anxiously for the Romans to depart. As the days passed, and the Roman army still threatened Gamla, many partisans finally gave up, viewing themselves as having been divinely spared so as to fight in the next battle. Hundreds of Galileans fled, either back to their towns or south to unassailable Jerusalem.
Camped on steep slopes in the middle of nowhere, resupply for the Roman legions would have been difficult even if the roads had not turned to viscous mud because of the recent rain. The news of the Roman defeat, and his fathers’ murder, had spread far and wide, reaching Titus’ ears, compelling him to march to Gamla with Legion X, ostensibly to offer aid and to avenge Vespasian. However, Titus had marshaled his men to make the trek to resupply their comrades. Rather than appreciate these good tidings, Cerialias was greatly displeased. Titus had to come to acknowledge Cerialias' authority, but not with a large force backing him. The paranoid Cerialias suspected Titus of coming only to grasp supreme command, commanding an undefeated force that would outstrip Cerialias’ supporters even more. Only a successful conquest of the accursed city before Titus arrived could burnish his reputation enough to convince a plurality of men to support his candidacy. A few thousand of Cerilias’ staunchest supporters assembled, but Cerilias deemed that too few to take the city, as he overestimated the remaining defenders of Gamla, and did not want even the slightest hint of an embarrassing defeat. Most of the hungry, tired Romans directly refused Cerialias’ order. They were in no mood to fight. Instead, they preferred to wait for Titus to arrive with reinforcements and food.
Leaving the lower Galilee almost entirely without a garrison, Titus arrived at the foot of Gamla with 10,000 more soldiers a week after the calamity. He was hailed imperator by a few brave men, and general by the rest, to whom he had never been more popular. They regarded Titus as an equal, as a common man. Titus was still respected for the hardships he had suffered after being crucified, and was praised for his relationship to the now quasi-defied Vespasian. Titus’ feeding of the hungry troops didn’t hurt his cause either.
The support demonstrated for Titus did not change Cerialias mind. The bitter legate refused to step down graciously, maintaining that it was his rightful role to be commander. He ordered his men to remain in their encampment, and to refrain from fraternizing with Titus’ troops. These two armies focused more on each other, than maintaining any leaky membrane around Gamla. Nothing would get done until a compromise was reached. It took another week, but time was no longer critical with the army happily fed. but, after much cajoling and negotiating, strife among the Roman ranks was averted by a deal that divided leadership responsibilities among Titus and Cerialias. The third legate, Trajan, was ignored, as he was currently based in Gaza keeping the sea lanes clear of pirates.
Despite only partially commanding the army, Titus’ presence had reinvigorated the formerly moribund soldiers. After the two weeks of wasted time, construction began anew on the destroyed siege works, in order to mount another assault. The trenches across the ramp were filled in, and new ballista and catapults were made. Battering rams were once again brought up, hammering the repaired walls till they cracked.
The withered forces that still defended Gamla had no remaining countermeasures. They could only watch their downfall play out below them. The Roman entered cautiously, taught twice by painful experiences that impulsively entering the city would not work out to their favor. A constant bombardment of the town whittled away the resolve of the sheltering inhabitants, preventing them from sleeping comfortably or feeling at ease, always aware of the possibility of a stone ball falling from the sky and crushing them. Finally, toward the end of November, the Romans tested the hostile waters of Gamla in a small foray, attempting to gauge the strength of the defenders. The Roman raid, was not nearly as easily rebuffed as expected, as it made further headway then Cerialias and Titus expected, almost taking the town. Gamla’s fate was sealed.
It was a pleasant late November day when Gamla fell. The city appeared just below the fluffy clouds dotting the robin egg colored sky to the Romans. Titus ordered his troops upwards. The fresh men of Legion X were first through the holes in the walls, soon followed by the weathered troops who had survived the previous iteration of this stratagem. Unlike before, the Jews couldn’t maintain the stalemate very long. Roman troops streamed forth, pushing the resisting Jewish forces backwards up the slopes. Chares roused himself from bed, and tried to lead a counter offensive that would stall the Roman armies. He was completely ineffective, finding his party surrounded by the advancing Romans. Joseph could only watch his compatriots die as he retreated up the mountain, toward the redoubt at the peak.
The view from the top of Gamla. It's a long way down. (Picture from Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome AD 66-73)
When there was no more mountain left to climb, the Jews finally stood their ground. They were caught between the Romans and the precipice. It was a macabre scene. With the advantage of the high ground, the defenders could pelt the Roman forces continually. The Romans couldn’t even fully utilize their superior numbers, surrounding the Jews on the peak but being unable to increase the ratio of Roman troops to Jewish fighters. The legions still had an advantage, the men on their front lines could be continually replaced with fresh soldiers, whereas the defenders were forced to keep on futilely fighting.
For the rest of that long day, battle raged at the summit as the cornered Jews fought bravely, inflicting casualties on the would-be conquerors, while limping upward, to consolidate on the top. Roman victory was not assured until the last of the Jews on the peak died in battle after nightfall. Standing on the top of Gamla, under the peaceful visage of a full moon, Titus had a commanding view on the valley the city lay in, and he could look toward the distance, toward the Sea of Galilee and the lands beyond, lands that had rejected Rome and had been rightly punished. Titus declared that henceforth the ruins of Gamla would be called Vespasian, and that the entire mountain would remain eternally a gravestone venerating his father.
Titus may have gotten the rubble of Gamla, but my suspicions tell me that he may suffer from the case of the "Over ambitious subordinate / peer" known in later centuries as the "John Bell Hood disorder" and the "Starscream syndrome". With Cerialias' drinking the jealousy and envy flavors of Haterade in regards to Titus, I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to throw the next major battle rather to let Titus gain the credit for winning them (like how John Bell Hood might've threw the battle of Cassville during the ACW in OTL rather than have Joe Johnston gain a victory).
I´m so glad this timeline is back. Thanks, AsenionCactus!
I wonder how many potentially rebellious (young, healthy, male) Jews are left in the Galilee and Judaea after several crushing defeats?
As for the rivalry between the two commanders: there`s soon going to be different orders coming from Rome on the one hand, and from usurpers e.g. in Gaul. Maybe that`ll finally pit them against each other?
I wonder how many potentially rebellious (young, healthy, male) Jews are left in the Galilee and Judaea after several crushing defeats?
As for the rivalry between the two commanders: there`s soon going to be different orders coming from Rome on the one hand, and from usurpers e.g. in Gaul. Maybe that`ll finally pit them against each other?
Trust No Friend
Only Mt. Tabor, Gamla and miscellaneous local hamlets had weathered the fury of Vespasian’s conquering advance. Now with Gamla conquered, the Galilee had effectively been cleansed of rebels. Unfortunately for the Roman commanders, their Pyrrhic victory served incongruously to bolster the hopes of the few remaining local Jews. The reduced presence of garrisoning Roman troops fueled fertile conditions for renewed outbreaks of revolt. A mutiny in Tiberias broke out, led by some of Agrippa’s troops and supported by some of the Roman-friendly native Tiberians who had simmered under the martial law Vespasian had imposed and the sack of their city. Tarichae was likewise liberated from Roman rule, partially by a delegation of partisans who can down from Mt. Tabor, and partially by recently radicalized elements in the city itself. Across the Galilee, in cities from Capernaum to Nazareth, from Sepphoris to Ramah, nationalistic sentiments raged.
These insurgencies were not particularly catastrophic for the Roman army. The Galilee would be easier to reconquer a second time, as its fortifications would be even more hasty, its defenders even more poorly supplied, and its populace already winnowed down once by Roman arms. The Galilee was a depopulated wasteland. Even as the life-nourishing winter rains swept across the verdant hills, no farmers stirred. Fields once strewn with wheat and barley grew only hardy weeds. Vineyards were left untended and once ubiquitous flocks of sheep had vanished. The traditional Galilean villages were half-empty. Some of the inhabitants were brutalized and dead, killed by Romans or rebels as traitors. Many had been enslaved, marched up the coast to Tyre and Antioch and dispersed by ship across the Roman Empire. Other had fled to safety in Judea. By the time the army encamped at Gamla roused itself to cross the Lake, many of the smaller revolts had already died down. The few remaining zealous able-bodied Jews in their scorched settlements had either been wiped out by the Roman cavalry garrisons, or had finally abandoned their homeland to go to Jerusalem.
A more significant insurrection than the last feeble attempt of the Galilee to free itself threatened just south. Samaritan elders had noted the repeated ineptness of the Roman commanders. Already, Rome had lost two decisive battles, without coming close to suppressing the Jewish Revolt. There was no reason to think that Samaria couldn’t be as successful. Petty bigotry between Jews and Samaritans fostered an atmosphere where the Samaritan leaders believed that anything a Jew could do a Samaritan could do better.
The Samaritans did not lack motive to revolt. They had experienced the same religious intransigencies from Rome as the Jews, and Samaritan still seethed remembering Cerialias’ massacre on their holy Mount Gerizim earlier that summer. Most were furious that the man who perpetuated it was now coleader of the Roman army. Ignoring the ancient hostility that existed between Jew and Samaritan, the assembled leaders on Mount Gerizim declared a Samaritan state. They immediately began the outlawed work of rebuilding the Samaritan Temple, whose sundered ruins had eroded for hundreds of years.
The province was now less amenable to Rome than before the campaign had started in the summer. Judea, Edom, and Perea had been functionally independent for more than a year. After all the Roman blood spilt for it, the Galilee was only now Roman. Samaria had just erupted into insurrection. Even the incestuous brother-sister, husband-wife pair of King Malichus II and Queen Sagilat of nearby Nabataea were less friendly to Rome. The traditional caravans of spices and incense that funded Nabataea had been recently diverted to Egypt by the Romans. This recent loss of trade coupled with the misuse of good Nabataea archers and cavalrymen soured Malichus on the war. Nabataea had to cooperate with the local superpower, but did so extremely reluctantly.
The brightest front in the defiant province was the coastal plain where Trajan and the Vth Legion had been assigned. Trajan’s chief accomplishment was successfully exterminating all the pirates who had escaped from Joppa. No longer did Jews threaten the vital sea lanes carrying Egyptian and Indian goods. The legion had even ventured somewhat inland to conquer some of the towns at the periphery of Judea, like Jamnia and Azotus. After receiving news of Gamla and the death of Vespasian, Trajan gamely abandoned his campaign to wait for new orders. Rather than deny the authority of Cerialias and Titus in what could only escalate tensions, Trajan decided to be patient. For now, Trajan and his men rested in Caesarea for the winter, awaiting orders from Emperor Nero instead of the men who had greedily divvied up power between themselves.
With the advent of December, the rainy season was now fully underway. Any operation inland would risk being bogged down in mud while suffering draining losses from the sniping locals. Titus and Cerialias decided to fall back to the coast where the army could rest for the winter. The generals agreed to still conduct limited operations in the Galilee during the rainy season in an attempt to prevent any more rebels from emerging. Legion X and Legion V spent the winter in the vicinity of Caesarea, and Legion XV, having had borne the brunt of the casualties, wintered further north in Tyre. The Galilean and Nabatean troops provided by King Agrippa II and King Malachus returned to their nearby homes for the winter, while the Syrian auxiliaries stayed with the legions.
All three legates waited anxiously for the pronouncement from Rome that would appoint the new Roman commanding general. Neither Titus, nor Cerialias, nor Trajan, could count on any favorable leanings from the Emperor. Nero was fickle and increasingly paranoid, but even he had to realize that the situation in Judea had become regime threatening, a disastrous series of blunders that undermined his throne. The legates feared that the Emperor would mostly likely choose an experienced general to lead after the mixed results of his current commanders. They overestimated their Emperor. Nero habitually regarded competent commanders as hazardous, especially those without disqualifying flaws. Investing a man with an army the size of the one recuperating in Judea could easily result in an army marching on Rome. A man like Vespasian, effective but crude and apolitical would help prevent such a revolt. The option least likely to provoke a civil war, would be for Nero to command the army himself, but Nero had not gone east to command even for the recent Parthian war, and was still sane enough to recognize his inadequacies as a military leader.
In any event, Nero’s decree was anticipated for a while by the three legates. The announcement of Vespasian’s death had gone to Rome on November 7th, and from Gamla, it took a few days to reach Ceasea on the swiftest horse and about three more weeks by the fasted boats for the news to echo across the Mediterranean to Rome. Had Nero decided on a course of action the moment that he was informed, the imperial edict would take another three weeks to return to Caesarea, reaching it by the end of the year, infusing the derelict soldiers with a passion, and with the new agenda that a definite leader would demand. However, the Emperor had a more pressing task to deal with and Nero remained mute on the matter through January. For in Gaul another rebellion flared, a truly Roman revolt.
Very cool! I'm starting to see how "Zion" might become independent or at least keep up their successes in this timeline.
They still have so many hurdles though.
They still have so many hurdles though.
If the the last post was any indication, it looks like the commander of the Rhine legions found out about the Roman setbacks in Judea and decided that perhaps there's needs to be a new boss running things in Rome. One last thing, I wonder if Nero pulled a Cobra Commander and killed the messager who told him the news about Gamla.
Welcome on board, Samaria!
The next spring/summer is going to be another round of devastations and slaughterings even without reinforcements or competent leadership.
What begins to scare me is the butterflies on more stable, core territories of the Empire, and the prospect of having the military anarchy of the 3rd century come one-and-a-half centuries earlier. I don`t suppose this TL is going to delve deeper on that issue, as it´s been wonderfully and knowledgeably focused on YHWH´s Chosen Peoples so far. But it appears to start happening...
Also, quo vadis Christianity? The still tiny minority could either face a much crueller crackdown on all things smelling of rebellious Jews... or maybe...
The next spring/summer is going to be another round of devastations and slaughterings even without reinforcements or competent leadership.
What begins to scare me is the butterflies on more stable, core territories of the Empire, and the prospect of having the military anarchy of the 3rd century come one-and-a-half centuries earlier. I don`t suppose this TL is going to delve deeper on that issue, as it´s been wonderfully and knowledgeably focused on YHWH´s Chosen Peoples so far. But it appears to start happening...
Also, quo vadis Christianity? The still tiny minority could either face a much crueller crackdown on all things smelling of rebellious Jews... or maybe...
Practical Lobster said:
Yep, Judean independence is still a long shot at this point in time. For the next couple updates I'll take down one hurdle, the one that historically cost Jews any chance of winning the war, disunity.
Mike Louis said:
Vindex is only revolting slightly earlier than he would have otherwise. Gallia is at least a weeks ride further from Judea than Rome is, so Vindex wouldn't have heard much of the details of Gamla. Yet another Roman defeat would only motivate Vindex slightly more, as he had been planning his insurrection for a while, at least since the Pisonian conspiracy. You got his goals right, he thought Nero to be incapable and wants to replace him with someone less deranged.
Salvador79 said:
Judea will not be the only place to be put to the sword. The Year of the Four Emperors is nigh. Rome is about to face its worst civil war since Octavian and Antony clashed a century before. Don't worry, I will be going into gory details about at least some of the civil war.
Christianity is still a small sect with its headquarters in Jerusalem. These next few updates will deal with the hitherto neglected jockeying for position in Jerusalem among the Jews. The early Christians will not be forgotten in the midst of the turmoil.
Jerusalem Has Stumbled
As the Romans milled about in the north, the political situation in Jerusalem had become increasingly volatile, almost explosive. The inevitable dysfunction in the Jewish capital had grown gradually, slowly ushered in by unrestrained zealots, madmen, and jingoists. A year before the battle of Gamla, had been bright heady days when Judea was newly freed, and Rome a distant defeated beast. Jerusalem had been mostly unified under the provisional government of Ananus ben Ananus, and his rich allies of Joseph ben Gorion and Nakdimon ben Gorion. Even then, shadows of causeless hatred and habitual shortsightedness loomed. The government had only nominal authority everywhere outside the walls of Jerusalem, to such an extent that many of the appointed governors never even left the city to go to their assigned positions. Those that had, like the late Joseph ben Mattiyahu had not been as trustworthy as Ananus would have preferred. However, Ananus had closer problems to worry about. The bandit chief Simon ben Giora no longer lurked in the Judea countryside, having fled to the safety of Masada, but Eleazar ben Simon still controlled the heart of Jerusalem, the Temple itself, from where he could work his own noxious brand of mischief. Eleazar was safely ensconced behind the mighty Herodian walls, the Temple Mount served as a veritable fortress that rose above the most defended city in the east. He could not be waited out, as the massive cisterns and great banks of food underneath the Temple could sustain his men for years, even without the daily sacrifices and sin offerings.
The Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones directly adjacent to the Temple. It was here that Ananus had overstepped his authority when ordering James' execution. (Picture taken from this website.)
The faltering alliance that had been brokered between Eleazar and Ananus did not last long, disintegrating acrimoniously under the harsh scrutiny of mutual distrust. Eleazar regarded the former high priest as a duplicitous scoundrel who would have gladly turned Jerusalem over to Romans had they been slightly more successful. This characterization of Ananus was not wholly untrue. As a former high priest, a ranking member of the landed class, Ananus had supported the war quite hesitantly. The High Priest was already living a luxurious life under Roman domination, and he feared the disruption of his amenities any war would by necessity entail. Despite Elazar’s slanders, Ananus was not unswervingly pro-Roman, the reason he had lost his job as an ex-high Priest was because he had executed James, the brother of Jesus of Nazateth, in a Jewish tribunal when the Roman procurators were not present. For that crime, executing a known heretic under Jewish Law, Ananus had lost his job three months after first donning the breastplate and turban. Despite his long standing grievance against Rome, the horrific tales of death and dismemberment at the hands of a rampaging Cestius Gallus in the Galilee had further dissuaded the aging priest from enthusiastically supporting the war. If Gallus had pushed but slightly harder when camped outside the walls of Jerusalem and entered the Holy city, Ananus would have happily distanced himself from the rebellion and returned to being a fawning Roman subject.
Events had transpired differently. The only explanation for the deliverance of Jerusalem at the moment of its deathly peril could be the intervention of God himself, as in years long past. Divine intervention compelled Ananus to act. Ever the opportunist, he used the victory of Beth Horon and made a canny alliance with the pro-war Gorion brothers to create a new regime that would minimize changes to the status quo. Ananus was a stout Sadducee, holding no patience for the misguided ravings of Eleazar and his band of extremists. They were not quite messianic millennialists, but they believed in renewing the ancient covenant of the Jewish people as per Ezra and Nehemiah, rededicating the Temple to God, and upholding all the laws. The messiah would come eventually, when the time was right, and they planned to wait in the Temple until that glorious day had arrived.
The first major changes in Ananus’ provisional government were wrought after the defeat at Ashkelon, where Silas the Babylonian, John the Essene, and Niger the Perean had all supposedly perished. All three had been wealthy men, religious Jews to be sure, but mainly men who agreed with Ananus’ view on the resumption of a new normality. The former two had truthfully met their demise, but Niger survived the assault in a cave at the edge of Majdal, having jumped off of the walls of the town while they burned. Fortunately for Niger, many rural towns had dug caves unknown to any authority. He hid for three days in one of these holes, crouching in the murky depths of the manmade hiding space until he could be sure the Roman forces had departed. Niger climbed out of the hole up into the charred ruins of Majdal, where some of his former soldiers remained to bury their dead coreligionists. Fearing the worst, Niger expected to be lynched as a coward and failure. Much to Niger’s surprise, he was instead greeted as a hero when he returned to Jerusalem, for his survival appeared to be miraculous. The few other Jews had returned from the raid on Askelon regarded him as a nigh messianic figure who had persisted due to divine intervention.
Niger found the power structure slightly changed from when he departed, as a Pharisaic wing of moderates led by Simon ben Gamliel had become part of the moderate coalition after exploiting the blunder of Ashkelon. Ananus, recognizing the importance of a broad union across the sects, had persuaded the moderate Pharisees to join the government instead of letting the mutually loathed Zealot seize control. In another shakeup, Joseph ben Gurion had lost his status as Ananus’ biggest supporter. His son, the creatively named Gurion ben Joseph, had replaced his father in the affectations of Ananus. Even after Askelon, the governing coalition consisted only of the rich and the powerful, men who had winter homes in the warm areas by Jericho, who purified themselves in personal mikveh’s, and who bought and sold the land of their sharecroppers with impunity. No man in Ananus’ government was an upjumped commoner, one of the many valiant heroes who had fought bravely at Beth Horon. The vast majority were Jerusalemites, Herodian nobleman, and hereditary priests, fatalistic Sadducees who scoffed at the fervor that was below them. They could not understand nor prepare for the turbulence that would soon engulf them.
Corner of the Temple Mount. Massive Herodian Walls stood between Eleazar and his foes. (Picture taken by the author)
Petty feuds blossomed, sowing distrust among the provisional government. Even as Joseph ben Mattiyahu labored to tame the Galilee and centralize its defenses against the coming Roman army, Simon ben Gamliel and his allies sent envoys to recall him. Another faction of the government, the one who originally sent Joseph to the Galilee, still tacitly supported him and held Simon back. This firm lack of commitment was endemic, and became more so as the months progressed. By June, more than a year after the revolt had begun, the provisional government had sealed its fate. Even with Roman armies marching on Jewish cities in the Galilee, Ananus preferred to do nothing. His reputation soured, as it was rumored that he planned on waiting for Romans to reach the walls of Jerusalem before intervening. However, those formidable walls were being repaired extensively from the damage that Cestius Gallus had inflicted. The provisional government did not send out the burgeoning army that crowded Jerusalem uncomfortably to fight in the Galilee or exact revenge on the local gentiles for their pogroms. The Jews had learned too much from the careless debacle of Ashkelon. Instead, Ananus enlisted the veterans and residents of Judea to train with the captured siege engines, to make weapons, and to laboriously finish construction on the third wall that would hopefully make impregnable Jerusalem even safer.
Outside the narrow confines of Judea, Ananus lack of power was humiliatingly evident. Idumea had been left to govern itself, left to its forcibly converted inhabitants who scarcely qualified as real Jews. The great fortresses of Masada, Herodium, Machareus, and of course the Temple Mount, all remained in the hands of the different fanatical bandits who seized them, and once in control refused to distribute the professionally made arms to the rest of the population. Perea was governed by local leaders, who agreed with the Jerusalem government in principle, but were just as cowed of the Roman army, and refused to be more than allies in name, not in practice. The rich date palms that stood by the shore of the Dead Sea, were universally desired. Their owners in Jerusalem, rich men who profited from the distant groves, personally ensured the profit from those plantations would make its way back to the capital. Next to the palms, towns of celibate Essenes refused to take part in the war, preferring to rely on God for the doings of the base physical world. They had no sympathy for the corrupt Temple nor for their tainted brethren. For them, the daily cycle of prayer, study, and purification was all that they needed from the world.
Judea proper, the central hills that long ago David might have searched for sheep and Jeremiah eulogized, the famous settings of the Tanakh was scarcely better off. Almost every Judean had at some point visited the adjacent Temple, and had marveled at the strength of Jerusalem. When the Romans came, the residents of Jericho would leave their walls rather than watch them fall down again, and the inhabitants of Hebron planned on abandoning the Patriarchs in their graves to seek shelter in the capital. Crowds poured into holy Jerusalem where nature and man had conspired to make a citadel, and God invincibility.
The Land was Polluted with Blood
As Judea dithered, the summer of blood in the Galilee dragged on. Jotapata’s defiance of Vespasian, the plucky resistance of the city was magnified in the telling so that to the Judean listeners, Vespasian seemed to be the one in peril. That optimistic courage, the belief that God was not required to defeat the Romans inspired the Jerusalemites. The defeat at Jotapata and the death of Joseph left the city shocked and saddened, especially his elderly father and his brother, both named Mattiyahu. When Tiberius fell, when Tarichae was taken, when the flight of the Gischalans was told, many of the veterans of the city declared the need to go north to aid the Galileans. Ananus quashed those impudent rabble-rousers. To any impartial observer, the Galilee was lost, had been inevitably lost, and throwing valuable men away would be pointless.
Refusal to involve the Judean government in the affairs of the Galilee became a harder and harder task as more and more Galilean refugees poured into Jerusalem. Lead by their local leaders, all made the hard choice of abandoning their homes to seek safety in the core of the revived Jewish state. Jerusalem swelled up in size expanding from its daily population of around 40,000 individuals to almost 60,000. The majority of the refugees were fighting men, veterans of the Roman campaign in the Galilee. They had been radicalized, and had come in groups, small bands that had originated as local Galilean entities but progressed into the building blocks of the preexisting parties that dangerously split Jerusalem. Many gravitated toward Jesus ben Shapat, the Tiberian warlord who escaped the wrath of the Romans with hundreds of men, who followed him down south. Another Galilean warlord named Levi ben Jacob, who had once served under Joseph, attracted many of the more violent men from the upper Galilee. Others found the radical religious philosophies of Eleazar to be more compelling, and joined him as he manned the Temple battlements. Some remained unaffiliated, still provincial at heart and unlearned in the politics going on in Jerusalem’s shadowy rooms. Very few of the Galileans sided with Ananus. They did not overtly blame him for his reluctance to battle, having experienced the horror of Roman conquest, but the rowdy Pharisaic farmers felt no love for the ruling aristocratic Sadducees.
The autumn holidays were celebrated in the holy city, the holy rites presided by the current High Priest, a nephew of Ananus by the name Mattiyahu ben Theophilus. The High Priest, though not of the despised Boethusian family, was still of high enough class to be disliked by the common priests that controlled the Temple under Eleazars name. Antagonistic Levites and Priests mocked Mattiyahu whenever he entered the sanctuary, refusing to grant the holder of Aaron’s ancient office his due respect. The Sadducee could not tolerate such derision. Mattiyahu then escalated the situation dangerously. He brought bodyguards into the Temple with him when he had to perform the requisite rituals. A score of loyal thugs shadowed Mattiyahu from the moment he left his opulent mansion in the Upper City until he reached the Temple. Naturally, the Zealots regarded this breech of their sacred trust as tantamount to war. Only Eleazar himself prevented bloodshed, personally escorting the High Priest and his retinue through the Temple grounds under the watchful eye of hundreds of Eleazar’s partisans. Upon reaching the Temple itself, Eleazar urged Mattiyahu to reconsider his need for protection out of respect for God.
Map of the Temple itself. Taken from this website.
Most of the area on the great stone platform that Herod had erected was called the Court of the Gentiles. It surrounded the Temple, and was primarily a bazaar home to money changers, and animal markets. Any man, woman, or gentile could freely explore the plaza. As the holiest site in the Jewish world, the Temple had more stringent ritual requirements. First, the Jew would have to ritually cleanse themselves in a mikveh, an exactingly made pool of natural water. They could then ascend the twelve steps up into the Temple proper. All Jews first passed through the court of the Women, where any Israelite man or woman could enter. Though no sacrifices were performed here, Levite choirs sang psalms, and lead services, while lower status priests bustled about taking animals from women and impure men who could not progress any further.
Immediately beyond the Court of the Women was the court of the Israelites, the final stop for any non-Levitical Jewish man. The men could watch the priest as they constantly performed their sacrificial duties. Only priests, male descendants of Aaron, could go to the altars. The High Priest could go even further. He was the only individual who could go pass the court of the Priests. On but one day a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies.
Eleazar urged the High Priest to respect the Temple’s sacred laws. It would be abhorrent in the sight of God to have common bodyguards in the Priestly Court. Besides, Eleazar argued, the entire sanctuary was a place of peace with the Priestly Court being especially hallowed. There would be no need for bodyguards. Mattiyahu had spent all his days frequenting the Temple, and he grudgingly acceded to Elazar’s demands. The bodyguards were to be left behind, at the Israelites court where they could watch from below in the case of any conspiracy against the High Priest.
Mattiyahu's antics had annoyed Eleazar greatly. As master of the Temple, Eleazar decided to unilaterally end the months of bickering by appointing a new High Priest, one who would not be a hated Sadducee. Traditionally, the Sanhedrin appointed a new High Priest on the occasion of the incumbent’s inability to perform their duties. Three hundred years of foreign domination had allowed that tradition to die, and Eleazar planned to start his own custom. Rather than rely on the judgement of men to pick a new High Priest, Eleazar decided to use lots to select the new leader, allowing God to pick. Eleazar was not above manipulating the results however. Of the three thousand priests who lived in the vicinity of Jerusalem, only the names of those who were friendly to the Zealots were put in the lottery. After much ceremony, Eleazar drew out the name of one Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. The new High Priest was an extremely devout Pharisee who studied under Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai and subscribed to the more conservative House of Shammai with respect to the Law. He was no Zealot, but his nonurban origins and his comparatively low ranking in the priestly caste served the Zealot cause of spiting Ananus’ government. Appointing Eleazar also sowed discontent amongst the moderate faction, for Eleazar was married to Imma Shalom, the daughter of Simon ben Gamliel.
The moderates had not known of any of these machinations until one day in late October after Mattiyahu had already gone up to the Priests Court. With Mattiyahu completely isolated, Eleazar ordered his men to capture the High Priest. They waited until Mattiyahu wandered unsuspectingly into the inner sanctum of the Temple on his way to visiting the Temple treasurer. He was tackled, and trussed up once the massive door closed preventing any eyewitness accounts. A gleeful Eleazar gloated over the old Sadduccee, declaring Mattiyahu unfit for officiating at the Temple. This was a known lie, and Mattiyahu attempted to call out Eleazar on his untruth. Eleazar’s response was to order Mattiyahu eye’s gouged out and his ears cut off, making him physically imperfect and truly ineligible to serve as a priest. The former High Priest was stripped, and then driven out of the Temple with sticks. Mattiyahu grotesquely groped his way home on the ground as he oozed blood. His longstanding familiarity with the premises allowed for sightless negotiation out of the Temple to safety in Ananus’ turf. Heads turned, and voices went silent, as Mattiyahu scraped by. Fearful of Eleazar’s wrath, no one dared offer the formerly haughty aristocrat help for. Mattiyahu passed unseeingly by the corpses of his bodyguards, their still warm bodies shattered from the unexpected fall of the Temple’s ramparts.
Steps up Robinsons arch, to the Temple mount. The bodyguards were thrown off the neighboring wall. Mattiyahu crawled down this way (Picture from Wikipedia.)
Down in the city, the sudden hail of bodyguards had startled unwary pedestrians. A curious crowd gathered, blithely wondering what had happened. Their questions were soon answered. Men rushed to the Upper City to inform the government of what little was known.
A makeshift militia gathered, but it ambled about directionless until Niger the Perean stumbled upon it and decided to take authority. He led the mob to the bodies and ordered some of his followers to bury the bodies. The bulk of government militia followed Niger as he hurried to confront Eleazar. Had Niger made it to the Temple Mount with an army, the unprepared Eleazar might have been vanquished. It was not to be.
The rabble was waylaid at the sight of the mutilated Mattiyahu crawling down the steps. Niger halted the forward charge. Though he had always despised the pretentious priest, Niger was still horrified. He rushed to aid the former High Priest, personally carrying Mattiyahu the rest of the way down to the nearest bed. The militia dispersed, unwilling to storm the Temple without Niger’s directions.
When asked via envoys why he had savaged the reigning high priest, Eleazar did not distort the truth. Rather than meekly pin the blame on subordinates, Eleazar brazenly declared his action a sanctification of God’s name. Mattiyahu and his warped theology had stood in the way of the coming of Messiah. All men who shared the fatalistic worldview of Mattiyahu were to be banned from entering the Temple. This narrowly targeted injunction forced the moderates to challenge the Zealots for control of the Temple Mount, as they could not let the holiest place in Judaism remain under the tyrannical thumb of Eleazar.
Very interesting updating, it seems that Jerusalem remains a powder keg ready to explode and the rebels remain divided in fratricidal factions but perhaps with different result, it seems to OTL.
I continue to interested in seeing how it will develop this Rebellion and if survive the newly born Jewish Estate.
I continue to interested in seeing how it will develop this Rebellion and if survive the newly born Jewish Estate.
I wonder how Rome's doing manpower wise? With the Romans suffering major losses in Israel in addition with dealing with Vindex's revolt in Gaul, Nero might be approaching the point that he may have to choose between possibly losing Israel and maybe Syria via Parthian intervention or possibly losing Gaul and with it the imperial throne. With Rome being overextended militarily, we just might see a Seleucid style decline and fall of the Empire as various pretenders turn Italy into a ravaged battlefield while the more civilized provinces break away and the vultures in the form of Parthia / Persia, and the Germanic / Hunnic hordes tear off their pieces of Roman territory.
I assume that these are OTL, and occurring in the Jewish War? Would you care to point to the right places those of us who are not familiar with the work of Josephus?
Thanks - still reading the (beginning of) the TL, wonderful writing so far!