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The Jews Against Rome: War in Palestine AD 66-73
This is the first book to examine the causes, events and consequences of a major conflict in ancient Palestine, and assess the accounts of its star witness, Josephus.
The Jewish war, culminating in the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, can be called the most significant event in Roman military history. The war demanded a massive concentration of forces and was the longest siege in the whole of the Imperial period. Lasting roughly five months it took four legions, twenty infantry cohorts, and eighteen thousand men supplied by four independent kings to affect a victory. In fact, the forces committed to the siege, were larger than those deployed for the invasion of Britain in AD 43.
The Jewish revolt was not inspired by any ideological objection on the part of the Jews toward Rome, nor any Roman anti-Semitism: instead a variety of underlying causes helped spark the revolt including social tensions, the divisions amongst the ruling class, the rise of banditry and poor harvests, and, perhaps most significantly, the apocalyptic storm brewing over 1st century Palestine.
All revolutions change history, whether they are successful or not, and the Jewish war against Rome in AD 66-73 was no exception - the ramifications were enormous and still have an impact on the world today. The revolt had a profound influence on the development of Judaism and Christianity. If this revolt had not occurred, two major religions would simply not exist, certainly not in their present forms. The other exceptional fact about the Jewish war is the extraordinary amount of information that has survived. For that we have to thank one man, Flavius Josephus, a Jew of Pharisaic origin and eyewitness to the events he describes. Born Joseph ben Mattiyahu, he held a command in Galilee during a pivotal stage of the revolt and was captured by the Romans. Eventually, through his skillful manipulation of events, he became a client and friend to the future Roman emperors, Vespasian and Titus and worked as a translator and mediator during the fateful siege of Jerusalem. To the Jews, he became a traitor.
The Jewish war, culminating in the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, can be called the most significant event in Roman military history. The war demanded a massive concentration of forces and was the longest siege in the whole of the Imperial period. Lasting roughly five months it took four legions, twenty infantry cohorts, and eighteen thousand men supplied by four independent kings to affect a victory. In fact, the forces committed to the siege, were larger than those deployed for the invasion of Britain in AD 43.
The Jewish revolt was not inspired by any ideological objection on the part of the Jews toward Rome, nor any Roman anti-Semitism: instead a variety of underlying causes helped spark the revolt including social tensions, the divisions amongst the ruling class, the rise of banditry and poor harvests, and, perhaps most significantly, the apocalyptic storm brewing over 1st century Palestine.
All revolutions change history, whether they are successful or not, and the Jewish war against Rome in AD 66-73 was no exception - the ramifications were enormous and still have an impact on the world today. The revolt had a profound influence on the development of Judaism and Christianity. If this revolt had not occurred, two major religions would simply not exist, certainly not in their present forms. The other exceptional fact about the Jewish war is the extraordinary amount of information that has survived. For that we have to thank one man, Flavius Josephus, a Jew of Pharisaic origin and eyewitness to the events he describes. Born Joseph ben Mattiyahu, he held a command in Galilee during a pivotal stage of the revolt and was captured by the Romans. Eventually, through his skillful manipulation of events, he became a client and friend to the future Roman emperors, Vespasian and Titus and worked as a translator and mediator during the fateful siege of Jerusalem. To the Jews, he became a traitor.
- GenresHistory
196 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 2008
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 12, 2022
Disappointing. Saw this at the library, and thought it would be worth a read. Not so much.
Sorek doesn't know fully what a semicolon is, or what a comma splice is not. That only skims the surface of her writing style and quality problems which alone make this a difficult read.
Then there's the errors. Did nobody catch the "zero" key getting typed extra times to have Vespasian having 600,000 troops on one comment? But, you can't blame a stuck keyboard key for claiming that David founded Jerusalem. I stopped reading at that point.
The premise of the book seemed good; a fairly short, Josephus based, Josephus focused but Josephus critical, look at the Jewish War. There are a few small pearls here, but they're embedded in too much swine vomit, rhetorically speaking and riffing on the biblical saying, to be worth seeking out, as none are close to having great price.
Sorek doesn't know fully what a semicolon is, or what a comma splice is not. That only skims the surface of her writing style and quality problems which alone make this a difficult read.
Then there's the errors. Did nobody catch the "zero" key getting typed extra times to have Vespasian having 600,000 troops on one comment? But, you can't blame a stuck keyboard key for claiming that David founded Jerusalem. I stopped reading at that point.
The premise of the book seemed good; a fairly short, Josephus based, Josephus focused but Josephus critical, look at the Jewish War. There are a few small pearls here, but they're embedded in too much swine vomit, rhetorically speaking and riffing on the biblical saying, to be worth seeking out, as none are close to having great price.
January 30, 2009
I just finished reading Susan Sorek's short book: THE JEWS AGAINST ROME. I think this is an excellent easy-read about the war, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in a war that changed the course of history.
Ms. Sorek often analyzes the many conflicting accounts of the war in Josephus's books. She does this fairly and allows the reader to reach his/her own conclusions.
She also reads between Josephus's lines and examines many of the causes of the war, including class conflict, and the possible role of the Jewish aristocracy.
The book, however, lacks a little depth, especially about tactics, and military experts might find it a bit lacking.
Randy
Ms. Sorek often analyzes the many conflicting accounts of the war in Josephus's books. She does this fairly and allows the reader to reach his/her own conclusions.
She also reads between Josephus's lines and examines many of the causes of the war, including class conflict, and the possible role of the Jewish aristocracy.
The book, however, lacks a little depth, especially about tactics, and military experts might find it a bit lacking.
Randy
August 23, 2011
The book "The Jews Against Rome" by Susan Sorek is an interesting account of the uprising in Palestine between 66-73AD. If you haven't read anything about this period of history before then this is a good book to get you started as it explains who Josephus is, talks about his Histories and gives the reader a good overview of the historical situation in this region before the revolt. The author also provides a decent history of the Roman campaign to crush the revolt without getting bogged down in too much detail so overall its a good first book to read on the subject
June 30, 2012
Writing about ancient history is always difficult, particularly when there is only a few contemporary resources. This was very well written and understandable. Very good.
July 18, 2012
This book provides a readable narrative covering the last century or so of the second Temple period. This period is a hinge of history -- the final years of Temple Judaism and the founding years of Christianity. I learned a lot that I didn't know; and I was able to retain more of what I read than I often do because the book was not too scholarly and dense.
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September 23, 2010The Jews Against Rome by Susan Sorek (2008)
November 27, 2010
Mostly a rehash of Josephus
July 17, 2018
This is a decent overview of the first Jewish-Roman War, with a hard lean towards being a summary of Josephus' Jewish War. It's clearly not designed for professional scholars, as it lacks adequate citation, maps & plans, & image source info.
How the editors allowed a book about the War to be published without a nap of Jerusalem or a plan of the temple, I can only guess.
Useful for an overview of how Josephus explains the War.
How the editors allowed a book about the War to be published without a nap of Jerusalem or a plan of the temple, I can only guess.
Useful for an overview of how Josephus explains the War.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews