The Jacob and Simon uprising ; (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: מרד יעקב וסימון) was a revolt instigated in Roman Judea by brothers Simon and Jacob in 46–48CE. The revolt began as a sporadic insurgency and when climaxed in 48 was quickly put down by Roman authorities, and both brothers were executed.

Background

The Crisis under Caligula (37–41) has been proposed as the "first open break between Rome and the Jews", even though problems were already evident during the

Census of Quirinius The Census of Quirinius was a census of the Roman Empire, Roman province of Judaea (Roman province), Judaea taken in 6 Common Era, CE, upon its formation, by the governor of Roman Syria, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. The census triggered a r ...

in 6 and under

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus ( – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the imperia ...

(before 31).

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

' '' Jewish Antiquities'' states that there were three main Jewish sects at this time, the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

, the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...

, and the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd cent ...

. The so-called

Zealots The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movements, Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea (Roman province), Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land ...

were a "fourth sect" - a sect curiously unnamed in Josephus, just as the zealots clearly did not refer to themselves as "zealots" -, founded by Judas of Galilee against Quirinius' tax reform, shortly after the Roman Empire declared what had most recently been the tetrarchy of Herod Archelaus to be a

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

, and that they "agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord." (18.1.6) According to the

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

article on ''Zealots'': Others have also argued that the group was not so clearly marked out (before the first war of 66-70/3) as some have thought.

Revolt

Information on the revolt which erupted in Galilee, then part of the Roman Judea province, is limited. The sources however indicate that it was motivated by anti-Roman sentiments and driven by the Zealots. The uprising began as a sporadic insurgency, and climaxed in 48. Two of Judas the Galilean' sons, Jacob and Simon, were involved and were crucified by Tiberius Julius Alexander, the procurator Augusti from 46 to 48.H.H. Ben-Sasson, ''A History of the Jewish People'', Harvard University Press, 1976, , page 275

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em 46 47 48 40s in the Roman Empire 1st-century Judaism 1st-century rebellions History of Galilee Jewish–Roman wars Judea (Roman province) Rebellions in Asia Rebellions against the Roman Empire Religion-based wars 40s conflicts Jewish rebellions

Background

Revolt

See also

References