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JewishHistoryעברית

Suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt

Date
132 CE – 135 CE
Location
JudaeaIsrael
Then part of
Roman province of Judaea
Perpetrators
  • Roman army under Julius Severus (Military)
  • Roman imperial government of Hadrian (State)
Killed (estimate)
580,000[2]Cassius Dio's figure for those killed, not counting deaths from hunger, disease and fire. He also says 50 fortresses and 985 villages were destroyed.
Country

23% – 97% of the Jewish population of Roman province of Judaea (c. 70 CE)[7]

Worldwide

15% of the worldwide Jewish population (c. 100 CE)[10]

Category
Massacre
Confidence
DisputedCassius Dio's 580,000 is the only ancient figure. Some historians (M. Mor) consider it exaggerated or limited to fighters; Raviv and Ben David (2021) argue from settlement archaeology that it is plausible as the total of Jewish victims, combatant and civilian. Whether the rebels held Jerusalem during the revolt is also uncertain.

Summary

In 132 CE Jews in Judaea, led by Shimon Bar Kokhba, rose against Roman rule after Hadrian decided to found the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem. Rome brought in Julius Severus from Britain, who besieged rebel strongholds and cut off their food rather than fight in open battle. The revolt ended in 135 with the fall of Bethar, where Bar Kokhba was killed. Judaean settlements were destroyed, many Jews were killed or sold into slavery, and according to Christian sources Jews were thereafter forbidden to enter Jerusalem.

Sub-events

  1. Ban on Jews entering Jerusalem

    135 CE · Jerusalem (Aelia Capitolina)

  2. Fall of Bethar

    135 CE · Bethar

  3. Hadrianic persecutions

    c. 135 CE – 138 CE · Judaea and Galilee

Sources

  1. Bar Kokhba Revolt. Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. Bar Kokhba. Encyclopaedia Judaica (via Encyclopedia.com)
  3. Bar Kokba and Bar Kokba War. Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
  4. Dvir Raviv and Chaim Ben David, Cassius Dio's figures for the demographic consequences of the Bar Kokhba War: Exaggeration or reliable account?. Journal of Roman Archaeology, Cambridge University Press (2021)
  5. Ancient Jewish History: The Bar-Kokhba Revolt. Jewish Virtual Library

Jewish population (estimates)

  • Worldwide: 3,800,000 – 4,000,000[10]c. 100 CEBotticini and Eckstein Table 3 (ca. 100 C.E.) put world Jewry at about 3.8–4 million, after about 4.5–5 million around 65 C.E.
  • Roman province of Judaea: 600,000 – 2,500,000[7]c. 70 CEDellaPergola concurs with 600,000–1 million in the Land of Israel (Avi-Yonah, Albright, Broshi). Higher figures put roughly half of a 4–6 million Mediterranean total in the land; Botticini and Eckstein tabulate 2.5 million in Palestine circa 65 CE.

Sources for population estimates

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  3. Jewish Population of Europe in 1933. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
  4. Jewish Population of the World. American Jewish Year Book 1948–1949, via Berman Jewish Policy Archive (1949)
  5. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Voluntary Conversions and Diaspora: A Human Capital Interpretation of Jewish History. American Economic Association annual meeting paper (2007)
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  9. The Contagion of Violence. 1391 and the Jews of the Spanish Kingdoms. Palgrave / Springer chapter (preview) (2021)
  10. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Religious Norms, Human Capital, and Money Lending in Jewish European History. Handbook chapter PDF via zvi-eckstein.com
  11. Sergio DellaPergola, Some Fundamentals of Jewish Demographic History. Berman Jewish Policy Archive (PDF) (2001)
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  20. Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2024. American Jewish Year Book 2024, via Berman Jewish DataBank / Israel CBS host (2025)
  21. Sergio DellaPergola, Demographic Trends in Israel and Palestine: Prospects and Policy Implications. American Jewish Year Book 2003, via Berman Jewish DataBank (2003)
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  31. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Appendix A: Sources and Methodology for Section 2 (Jewish and total population in Germany-Austria and Poland-Lithuania). Authors' appendix PDF (citing Weinryb, Stampfer, Kupovetsky, Guggenheim, Toch, Battenberg, Israel) (2018)
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  54. Jacqueline Shields, Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries. Jewish Virtual Library
  55. Lebanon Virtual Jewish History Tour. Jewish Virtual Library
  56. Jewish Populations in the Arab World. Jewish Virtual Library (citing Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2021 / AJYB 2023)
  57. Algeria (Vital Statistics). Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
  58. Archives juives n°45/2 — Les Juifs d'Algérie. Archives Juives / Les Belles Lettres (2012)
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  62. Sara Koplik, The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933–1952. SOAS University of London (PhD thesis abstract / deposit page) (2001)
  63. Argentina Virtual Jewish History Tour. Jewish Virtual Library
  64. All-Union 1959 census — ethnic composition of the USSR. Demoscope Weekly (РГАЭ РФ fond 1562)
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