The Jews revolted against Roman rule in 66 AD and fought for four years but were ultimately defeated. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple. A group of Zealots held out at Masada for two more years but then committed suicide rather than surrendering to the Romans. As punishment, most of the remaining Jewish population was killed or enslaved. Without the Temple as their spiritual center, Jews migrated throughout the Mediterranean world. The destruction of the Temple profoundly impacted Jewish culture by elevating the role of synagogues and rabbis in religious life.

1. JUDAISM OVER THE
CENTURIES
Social Studies for 10th E.G.B.
Teacher: Mauricio Torres

2. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• When the Romans took over
Palestine, the Jews felt they lost
some sense of national identity.
They soon got tired of foreign rule
(Rome).

3. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• Revolt Against Rome
• A group called the Zealots were the
most rebellious.
• They thought they should not answer to
anyone else but God, therefore, they
refused to obey Roman officials.
• In 66 AD they finally revolted and fought
fiercely against the Romans for four
years.
• They were not successful. Jerusalem lay
in ruins and the Second Temple was
burned to the ground by the Romans.
• When the temple was destroyed, the
Jews lost their will to fight and
surrendered.

4. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• Revolt Against Rome
• Masada
• Few Zealots, refused to give up their
fight and locked themselves in a
mountain fortress called Masada
• The Romans, under the leadership of
Titus, sent 15,000 soldiers to smash
the revolt.
• The fortress was near impenetrable
and the Romans had to build a ramp
to reach it.
• Fighting continued for two years.
• When the Romans broke in, the
Zealots took their own lives, because
they refused to be Roman slaves.

5. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• Results of the Revolt
• As punishment, the Romans killed most of the population in
Jerusalem.
• They took he survivors to Rome as slaves.
• The few that remained, left because the felt that without the Temple, it
was not worth living in the city any longer.
• They migrated to other Jewish communities, specially Alexandria in
Egypt.

6. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• Second Revolt
• 60 years after Masada, the
Jews chose to revolt once
again, tired of Roman rule.
• Once again, the Romans
defeated them and they
decided to ban all Jews from
Jerusalem.
• Once again, they migrated all
over the Mediterranean.

7. Roman Era: Revolt, defeat and migration
• Migration and Discrimination
• Without a temple, synagogues were now more
important for Jews.
• Rabbis, religious teachers, took a greater role in
guiding them in their religious lives.
• Yohanan ben Zaccai, a rabbi, founded a school
were he taught about Judaism and trained them to
be rabbis.
• Rabbis’ ideas shaped Judaism over the centuries and
they also served as community leaders.
• Over the centuries, Jews continued to migrate out of
the Mediterranean region into other parts of the
world.
• Sometimes, this was not voluntary, but due to the
pressure and discrimination of other religious groups.
• They settled as far as Russia, Asia and the U.S.

8. Ask Yourself
• Analyze:
• What led to the revolt of the Jews against the Romans?
• Why did the Zealots choose to commit suicide?
• Cause and effect:
• Why did the Romans force out Jews of Jerusalem?
• How did the defeat by the Romans affect Jewish history?
• Trace
• What are the areas to which the Jews migrated and in what order?
• Evaluate
• Why was the destruction of the Temple such a powerful blow to
Jewish culture?
• Describe
• How did the Romans finally break into Masada?

9. Bibliography
• Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History
(Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.)
Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company.
• Images taken from www.google.com