The Jewish Revolt Against Rome

After four years of fighting, in 70 CE the future Roman emperor Titus and a large Roman army destroyed the Temple of the Jews and a large part of Jerusalem. For the last two thousand years the causes, course, and significance of the war between Jews and Romans that led to the Temple’s destruction have been debated, especially among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Countless people have drawn strategic, philosophical, spiritual, and personal lessons from the war. Arguably, more people alive today are invested in the meaning of the Temple’s destruction than any other event in ancient history. In opposition to much of recent scholarship, Guy Rogers argues that the war was not short, its outcome was not inevitable, and most importantly, while the Romans won the war of weapons against the Jews from 66 to 74 CE, the Jews have won the longer peace of words.

Biography

Guy MacLean Rogers studied Classics and Ancient History at the University of Pennsylvania and University College London. He received his Ph.D. in Classics from Princeton University. He has taught Ancient History at Wellesley College since 1985, where he was Chairman of the Department of History from 1997-2001. In 1997 he was a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College Oxford and in 2003 he received the Perennial Wisdom Medal of the Monuments Conservancy of New York City. His most recent book, For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews Against Romans, 66-74 CE was published by Yale University Press in 2022.

Assigned Reading

Guy Rogers, For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66–74 CE (Yale University Press, 2022)