Now it became personal for Rome. The superpower dispatched its finest general, Vespasian, with an army of 60,000 troops—including three full legions—to crush Judea. It was the world’s most powerful army, bearing a grudge. The Romans quickly reconquered Galilee, collapsing the rebellion in the north. An estimated 100,000 Jews were killed or enslaved. Some were insurgents, most were not. It didn’t matter in the eyes of the Romans. Abetting rebellion was a capital offense, a lesson they wished to instill across the empire.
