Jewish Wars of Trajan\'s and Hadrian\'s regin

[bachmat66]

Salve,
Do you know any good books dealing with the military campaigns etc during the 2nd Jewish War of 115-17 AD and 3rd Jewish War (Simon ben Kosiba Revolt 130-136 AD)?

How about any good historical novels describing these wars or other novels dealing with this period (and not taking place in Britain, please)
Byt the way I read the livius.org articles on this subject - quite a reading, Jona.
Couple question though - when you say Lusius Quietus (he pacified easter provinces by killing or hellenising Jews) was killed in 118 AD, you mean he was murdered by Hadrian's henchmen? why would be Lusius Quietus' appointment as Judea governor after pacifying East a reward?
ps
Jona, when you state: The world was not to see Jewish armies anymore until 1915, when the British recruited a unit with the remarkable name of 'Assyrian Jewish Refugee Mule Corps', which was to play a role during the Dardanelles campaign. http://www.livius.org/ja-jn/jewish_wars/jwar07.html it is not quite true, for in Septmeber 1794 our Polish and American General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, then commander supreme of Polish armies, ordered organization of a first Jewish military unit, in modern history, during the defense of Warsaw, commanded by a Jewish-Polish national hero and fine cavalryman colonel Berek Joselewicz - killed in action during the Polish war against the Austrian Empire http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Pilla...ewicza.jpg - it was a 500 strong cavalry unit known as ''Pułk Lekkokonny Starozakonny'' (Jewish chevaulegers regiment). They were allowed, along with kosher food and Sabath observation, to keep their traditional beards and hair, leading to a nickname - 'beardlings.' The regiment was wiped out during the defense of Warsaw's distric of ''Praga'' in October 1794/ Later on, 1855 Polish poet and writer Adam Mickiewicz went to Istanbul/Constantinople organize a Jewish legion, made of Jews from Syria and Palestine -the Hussars of Israel, to fight, along the Polish Legion and Ottoman Cossacks in the Ottoman Army, against the Russian Empire during the Crimean War. I am not sure what happened with that unit but memoirs of Michal Sadyk Pasha Czajkowski, their and Ottoman Cossack commander, might help

[D B Campbell]

Do you know any good books dealing with the military campaigns etc during the 2nd Jewish War of 115-17 AD and 3rd Jewish War (Simon ben Kosiba Revolt 130-136 AD)?

The starting point must be Emil Schürer's The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (Edinburgh, 1973). This will give you the basic foundation of knowledge.

[Nathan Ross]

Salve,
Do you know any good books dealing with the military campaigns etc during the 2nd Jewish War of 115-17 AD and 3rd Jewish War (Simon ben Kosiba Revolt 130-136 AD)?

The majority of works on the Jewish wars concentrate on AD66-73, for obvious reasons. The later wars suffer from a lack of sources, but there is some coverage. James J. Bloom's The Jewish revolts against Rome, A.D. 66-135: a military analysis (2010) devotes over 150 pages to the war of Vespasian and Titus, and only 38 pages to the later revolts of Trajan and Hadrian - but that's better than nothing!

Mireille Hadas-Lebel's Jerusalem against Rome (2006) is a very scholarly work, using rabbinical texts to explore the history of Jewish/Roman interactions. There's a fair bit about the later revolts, but it's probably not the best place to start!

As for novels, the only one that I know that involves the later Jewish revolts is Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian, an extraordinary novel and a modern classic. The war is seen, quite briefly, through the emperor's eyes towards the end.

Hope that helps - Nathan

[D B Campbell]

James J. Bloom's The Jewish revolts against Rome, A.D. 66-135: a military analysis (2010) devotes over 150 pages to the war of Vespasian and Titus, and only 38 pages to the later revolts of Trajan and Hadrian - but that's better than nothing!

Not necessarily! From what I've seen of this book, I'd rather have nothing. :wink:

[Nathan Ross]

From what I've seen of this book, I'd rather have nothing. :wink:

Hmm, you could be right, Duncan. I should have remembered that this book has been discussed here before. Haven't read it myself - it was just one of a list I'd made of Jewish war titles I'll get round to looking at one of these days... mile:

Looking through the Google books preview, the author does have a rather cavalier approach to references and footnotes (i.e. there aren't any!), and has admitted a personal agenda of the sort that might easily lead to distortion of facts. Maybe best avoided then...

[Nathan Ross]

For something more weighty, perhaps this might be appropriate:

The Bar Kokhba war reconsidered: new perspectives on the second Jewish revolt against Rome - Pater Schafer(ed) 2003

It's a collection of essays, and works around the subject rather than presenting a straight reconstruction, but could be all the better for that. Perhaps if anyone has the book they could comment further.

It does appear to be quite extraordinarily expensive, unfortunately :-?

[ScipioAsina]

I believe Neil Faulkner addresses this briefly in his book Rome: Empire of the Eagles. Be warned; he is what one might call a Marxist scholar, and I honestly believe many of his arguments are baseless (i.e., Spartacus running a collective state).

[Nathan Ross]

Just as a brief addition to this old thread, I notice that this was published a couple of months back:

Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian

... which seems to address the topic directly! At 506 pages it seems suitably weighty as well. Has anyone had a look at it yet?

[Renatus]

At 506 pages it seems suitably weighty

And pricey: 75 quid for the hardback! Blimey!

[Gunthamund Hasding]

the latest Ancient Warfare has this subject
http://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/sho..._id=e38f33

very interesting read, and of course you can find the references in it

cheers
Gelu