My Review of Barry Strauss' "Jews vs. Romans"

The Jewish Wars

I take my title from Josephus’ “The Jewish War” which recounts the great Jewish revolt against Rome from 66-74 C.E. Hoover Institution fellow, Barry Strauss while using Josephus’ history, he casts a critical eye on this work written in about 75 C.E. From the time of the Roman invasion of Judea in 63 B.C.E to 136C.E the Jews of Israel fought three wars against the Romans and in many of those wars Jews fought Jews in what can be characterized as civil wars. Indeed, like Josephus some Jews fought on the side of Rome and there was so much infighting that the Talmud tells the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple was “groundless hatred.”

Although Judea was ostensibly a backwater state in the Roman Empire it played a major strategic roll in the thinking of Rome and its arch enemy Parthia (modern day Iran). Simply put, Judea in the hands of Parthia would have created a strategic nightmare for Rome. That is the reason Rome deployed one seventh of its legions in Judea between 66 C.E. – 74 C.E. to put down the great Jewish Revolt. That revolt led to the destruction of the Second Temple and the siege of Masada. Thus, it was no accident that such Roman Emperors as Augustus, Tiberius, Vespasian, and Hadrian took a great interest in the goings on in this small province in their empire.  Further, it was out of this clash of civilizations came Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.

 

Although Judea was down it was not out. There was a revolt of the diaspora in 116 C.E. and then the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-136 C.E. Although Bar Kokhba’s guerilla army fought bravely, in the end, they were no match for the trained legions. Just as in the first revolt, there were many Jews who sided with Rome, either out of self-interest or fear of how it would end. The Romans then wiped Judea off the map by calling it “Palaestinia.” I wonder how many Palestinians today know that their name came from ancient Rome.

 

Barry Strauss has given us a very readable history Jewish-Roman wars of two millennia ago. That history resonates today. Indeed, it may seem like current events. My one criticism of the book is that it does not give the reader a sense of the economy of the region. He doesn’t go into the role of Herod as the master builder of Judea. Did that bring about prosperity or result in high taxation to pay for all of his projects? He does mention the gap between the rich and poor Jews but, doesn’t really go into detail.  When I was in Israel last year, I witnessed an archaeological site in Jerusalem that portrayed the immense wealth of the city’s upper crust. That aside Strauss has written an excellent history of the period.