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Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire
A new history of two centuries of Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, drawing on recent archeological discoveries and new scholarship by leading historian Barry Strauss.
Jews vs. Rome is a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human the two hundred years of ancient Israel’s battles against Rome that reshaped Judaism and gave rise to Christianity. Barry Strauss vividly captures the drama of this era, highlighting the courageous yet tragic uprisings, the geopolitical clash between the empires of Rome and Persia, and the internal conflicts among Jews.
Between 63 BCE and 136 CE, the Jewish people launched several revolts driven by deep-seated religious beliefs and resentment towards Roman rule. Judea, a province on Rome’s eastern fringe, became a focal point of tension and rebellion. Jews vs. Rome recounts the three major the Great Revolt of 66–70 CE, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, culminating in the Siege of Masada, where defenders chose mass suicide over surrender; the Diaspora Revolt, ignited by heavy taxes across the Empire; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt. We meet pivotal figures such as Simon Bar Kokhba but also some of those lesser-known women of the era like Berenice, a Jewish princess who played a major role in the politics of the Great Revolt and was improbably the love of Titus—Rome’s future emperor and the man who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
Today, echoes of those battles resonate as the Jewish nation faces new challenges and conflicts. Jews vs. Rome offers a captivating narrative that connects the past with the present, appealing to anyone interested in Rome, Jewish history, or the compelling true tales of resilience and resistance.
Jews vs. Rome is a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human the two hundred years of ancient Israel’s battles against Rome that reshaped Judaism and gave rise to Christianity. Barry Strauss vividly captures the drama of this era, highlighting the courageous yet tragic uprisings, the geopolitical clash between the empires of Rome and Persia, and the internal conflicts among Jews.
Between 63 BCE and 136 CE, the Jewish people launched several revolts driven by deep-seated religious beliefs and resentment towards Roman rule. Judea, a province on Rome’s eastern fringe, became a focal point of tension and rebellion. Jews vs. Rome recounts the three major the Great Revolt of 66–70 CE, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, culminating in the Siege of Masada, where defenders chose mass suicide over surrender; the Diaspora Revolt, ignited by heavy taxes across the Empire; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt. We meet pivotal figures such as Simon Bar Kokhba but also some of those lesser-known women of the era like Berenice, a Jewish princess who played a major role in the politics of the Great Revolt and was improbably the love of Titus—Rome’s future emperor and the man who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
Today, echoes of those battles resonate as the Jewish nation faces new challenges and conflicts. Jews vs. Rome offers a captivating narrative that connects the past with the present, appealing to anyone interested in Rome, Jewish history, or the compelling true tales of resilience and resistance.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 7, 2025
3.5
In 66 CE, the tiny nation of Judea, with a population of approximately 2.5 million, engaged in the first of three major revolts against the Roman Empire, which had an estimated population of between 59 and 76 million, an endeavor that ultimately led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple at its center. Why did a tiny nation embark on what in hindsight appears to be a self-destructive path? Barry Strauss, Professor Emeritus of History at Cornell University and a leading authority on ancient military history, attempts to answer this question in his engaging and accessible narrative history, Jews vs. Romans: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire.
The book spans the period from 63 BCE to 135 CE, focusing on three major revolts: the Great Revolt (also known as the Jewish War), which took place from 66 to 74 CE; the Diaspora Revolt, from 116 to 117 CE; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt, from 132 to 136 CE. Strauss examines the internal divisions within Judea and the causes and consequences of the revolts for the Jewish people and the practice of Judaism. In addition, Strauss claims that he breaks new ground through his exploration of regional geopolitics and his investigation of the impact of Judea's positive relationship with Parthia (Iran), Rome's archenemy, on the course of the conflict.
While Strauss examines political and social forces, at heart, he is a military historian. He devotes nine chapters to the Great Revolt, chronicling military maneuvers and critiquing Josephus, the main primary source for this period. To his credit, Strauss does not employ academic jargon, and the narrative is accessible, even when he engages in intellectual debates. I recommend the book to anyone interested in this historical period. For military history buffs, it is a must.
In 66 CE, the tiny nation of Judea, with a population of approximately 2.5 million, engaged in the first of three major revolts against the Roman Empire, which had an estimated population of between 59 and 76 million, an endeavor that ultimately led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple at its center. Why did a tiny nation embark on what in hindsight appears to be a self-destructive path? Barry Strauss, Professor Emeritus of History at Cornell University and a leading authority on ancient military history, attempts to answer this question in his engaging and accessible narrative history, Jews vs. Romans: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire.
The book spans the period from 63 BCE to 135 CE, focusing on three major revolts: the Great Revolt (also known as the Jewish War), which took place from 66 to 74 CE; the Diaspora Revolt, from 116 to 117 CE; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt, from 132 to 136 CE. Strauss examines the internal divisions within Judea and the causes and consequences of the revolts for the Jewish people and the practice of Judaism. In addition, Strauss claims that he breaks new ground through his exploration of regional geopolitics and his investigation of the impact of Judea's positive relationship with Parthia (Iran), Rome's archenemy, on the course of the conflict.
While Strauss examines political and social forces, at heart, he is a military historian. He devotes nine chapters to the Great Revolt, chronicling military maneuvers and critiquing Josephus, the main primary source for this period. To his credit, Strauss does not employ academic jargon, and the narrative is accessible, even when he engages in intellectual debates. I recommend the book to anyone interested in this historical period. For military history buffs, it is a must.
November 7, 2025
This exciting summary covers roughly two hundred years of explosive encounters between a restless Judea and a Roman Empire that preferred its provinces obedient, taxed, and quiet. The result was anything but.
The book begins with Judea's uneasy status as Rome's client state, a small theocratic powder keg wedged between larger empires. Pompey's conquest in 63 BCE made the region a Roman dependency, but Herod the Great turned it into a Roman-loyal monarchy of marble and paranoia.
After his death, the province became a bureaucratic beehive of priests, zealots, and tax collectors, each certain God preferred their interpretation of obedience. Rome saw the Temple as an exotic curiosity. Judeans saw it as the center of the universe. Negotiations went about as well as one might expect.
Pompey the Great, the Alexander impersonator of his age, waltzed into Jerusalem and had the bad manners to stroll into the Holy of Holies. He looked around, saw no statues, and left puzzled. To the Romans, a temple without a god looked like a theater without actors. To the Jews, his entry was the ultimate desecration.
Strauss traces three catastrophic revolts that turned this tension into ruin. The first, the Great Revolt (66-74 CE), began when the priest Eleazar refused to offer sacrifices for the emperor. It spiraled into chaos, civil war, and finally the siege of Jerusalem, where Titus, the future emperor, occasional lover of the Jewish princess Berenice, and part-time romantic scandal, burned the Temple to the ground while his father Vespasian founded a dynasty on the ashes. The Jewish historian Josephus defected mid-war, traded his armor for a toga, and spent the rest of his life explaining to Romans why the whole thing had been a terrible misunderstanding.
The second, the Diaspora Revolt (116-117 CE), flared far from Judea, in Egypt, Cyrene, and Cyprus, where Jewish communities rose against Rome during Trajan's Parthian campaign. It was a gruesome sideshow that left cities destroyed and entire populations erased. Strauss calls it a portrait of apocalypse drawn in blood and bureaucracy: a revolt without strategy, suppressed with pitiless efficiency.
The third, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE), erupted under Hadrian, who decided to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter. The Jews decided otherwise. Led by Simon Bar Kokhba, "Son of a Star," self-declared messiah, and part-time military genius, they carved out an independent state for three brief, blazing years before Rome returned with overwhelming force. When the dust settled, Judea had a new name, Syria Palaestina, and a generation of martyrs.
Throughout, Strauss treats the Jewish rebels as both visionaries and realists, driven by faith and folly in equal measure. He portrays Rome as magnificent and monstrous, the empire that paved roads to every temple and then taxed the worshipers. His tone alternates between admiration and weary irony: the Romans conquered half the known world, yet never figured out how to rule a people who believed that their true king was invisible.
Out of the wreckage rise two heirs of rebellion: Christianity, which turned messianic fervor into theology, and rabbinic Judaism, which turned catastrophe into scholarship.
Strauss's pages are crowded with figures who lived by rhetoric, ruled by flattery, and often discovered that a single sentence could start or stop a war. When Agrippa, a royal grandson imprisoned in Rome, heard that the emperor Tiberius had died, he shouted in Hebrew, "The lion is dead." Caligula, the new emperor and Agrippa's old friend, laughed, freed him, and rewarded him with a kingdom.
The same Caligula soon demanded that a statue of himself be placed in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Petronius, the Roman governor of Syria, understood that "rivers of blood would flow unless he could stop the statue." He pleaded with Caligula to cancel the plan. Caligula responded by ordering Petronius's death. Before the sentence reached him, Caligula was assassinated, and the crisis evaporated.
Later, in Jerusalem, a priest named Eleazar convinced his colleagues to close the Temple to foreigners and to reject their donations. Josephus, who chronicled the events, wrote simply, "This was the beginning of the war against the Romans." Josephus himself ended up in Rome, living on the emperor's payroll and cycling through four wives, one killed in Jerusalem, two divorced, one who survived him.
The emperor Trajan, described by Strauss as a soldier who loved "the camps, bugles and trumpets, sweat and dust and heat of the sun," revived the tax on every Jew in the empire. Rabbi Judah the Prince once tore up a draft of a letter that began "From Judah the Prince to our master, Emperor Antoninus," and ordered it rewritten as "From your servant, Judah, to our master, Emperor Antoninus." Petronius worried constantly about the Jews of Babylon, who were so numerous and wealthy that "many other satrapies were occupied by Jews" carrying offerings of gold and silver to Jerusalem along "pathless, trackless, endless routes." Strauss stitches these lives together into a portrait of an age when one man's ego could set empires trembling and one prayer could change the fate of nations.
Strauss's closing thought might be the book's slyest moral: the Romans built their peace on ruins; the Jews built their survival on memory. And if the gods of either empire were keeping score, it appears that memory won.
The book begins with Judea's uneasy status as Rome's client state, a small theocratic powder keg wedged between larger empires. Pompey's conquest in 63 BCE made the region a Roman dependency, but Herod the Great turned it into a Roman-loyal monarchy of marble and paranoia.
After his death, the province became a bureaucratic beehive of priests, zealots, and tax collectors, each certain God preferred their interpretation of obedience. Rome saw the Temple as an exotic curiosity. Judeans saw it as the center of the universe. Negotiations went about as well as one might expect.
Pompey the Great, the Alexander impersonator of his age, waltzed into Jerusalem and had the bad manners to stroll into the Holy of Holies. He looked around, saw no statues, and left puzzled. To the Romans, a temple without a god looked like a theater without actors. To the Jews, his entry was the ultimate desecration.
Strauss traces three catastrophic revolts that turned this tension into ruin. The first, the Great Revolt (66-74 CE), began when the priest Eleazar refused to offer sacrifices for the emperor. It spiraled into chaos, civil war, and finally the siege of Jerusalem, where Titus, the future emperor, occasional lover of the Jewish princess Berenice, and part-time romantic scandal, burned the Temple to the ground while his father Vespasian founded a dynasty on the ashes. The Jewish historian Josephus defected mid-war, traded his armor for a toga, and spent the rest of his life explaining to Romans why the whole thing had been a terrible misunderstanding.
The second, the Diaspora Revolt (116-117 CE), flared far from Judea, in Egypt, Cyrene, and Cyprus, where Jewish communities rose against Rome during Trajan's Parthian campaign. It was a gruesome sideshow that left cities destroyed and entire populations erased. Strauss calls it a portrait of apocalypse drawn in blood and bureaucracy: a revolt without strategy, suppressed with pitiless efficiency.
The third, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE), erupted under Hadrian, who decided to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter. The Jews decided otherwise. Led by Simon Bar Kokhba, "Son of a Star," self-declared messiah, and part-time military genius, they carved out an independent state for three brief, blazing years before Rome returned with overwhelming force. When the dust settled, Judea had a new name, Syria Palaestina, and a generation of martyrs.
Throughout, Strauss treats the Jewish rebels as both visionaries and realists, driven by faith and folly in equal measure. He portrays Rome as magnificent and monstrous, the empire that paved roads to every temple and then taxed the worshipers. His tone alternates between admiration and weary irony: the Romans conquered half the known world, yet never figured out how to rule a people who believed that their true king was invisible.
Out of the wreckage rise two heirs of rebellion: Christianity, which turned messianic fervor into theology, and rabbinic Judaism, which turned catastrophe into scholarship.
Strauss's pages are crowded with figures who lived by rhetoric, ruled by flattery, and often discovered that a single sentence could start or stop a war. When Agrippa, a royal grandson imprisoned in Rome, heard that the emperor Tiberius had died, he shouted in Hebrew, "The lion is dead." Caligula, the new emperor and Agrippa's old friend, laughed, freed him, and rewarded him with a kingdom.
The same Caligula soon demanded that a statue of himself be placed in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Petronius, the Roman governor of Syria, understood that "rivers of blood would flow unless he could stop the statue." He pleaded with Caligula to cancel the plan. Caligula responded by ordering Petronius's death. Before the sentence reached him, Caligula was assassinated, and the crisis evaporated.
Later, in Jerusalem, a priest named Eleazar convinced his colleagues to close the Temple to foreigners and to reject their donations. Josephus, who chronicled the events, wrote simply, "This was the beginning of the war against the Romans." Josephus himself ended up in Rome, living on the emperor's payroll and cycling through four wives, one killed in Jerusalem, two divorced, one who survived him.
The emperor Trajan, described by Strauss as a soldier who loved "the camps, bugles and trumpets, sweat and dust and heat of the sun," revived the tax on every Jew in the empire. Rabbi Judah the Prince once tore up a draft of a letter that began "From Judah the Prince to our master, Emperor Antoninus," and ordered it rewritten as "From your servant, Judah, to our master, Emperor Antoninus." Petronius worried constantly about the Jews of Babylon, who were so numerous and wealthy that "many other satrapies were occupied by Jews" carrying offerings of gold and silver to Jerusalem along "pathless, trackless, endless routes." Strauss stitches these lives together into a portrait of an age when one man's ego could set empires trembling and one prayer could change the fate of nations.
Strauss's closing thought might be the book's slyest moral: the Romans built their peace on ruins; the Jews built their survival on memory. And if the gods of either empire were keeping score, it appears that memory won.
November 8, 2025
I was absolutely blown away by this book. I’ve read several of Barry Strauss’s earlier works—The War That Made the Roman Empire, the Death of Caesar , Masters of Command, and Ten Caesars—but Jews vs Rome is on an entirely different level. This is, without question, his finest work.
Strauss dives into two centuries of Jewish resistance against the Roman Empire and tells the story with such emotional depth and narrative drive that I often forgot I was reading history. His writing here feels more passionate, urgent, and human than in his previous books. The stakes are high, the characters—both famous and forgotten—feel alive, and Strauss captures the resilience of the Jewish people with clarity and respect.
As someone who reads a lot of Roman history (maybe too much!), I still gained new insights from this book. Strauss illuminates aspects of the Jewish-Roman conflict that rarely get this level of attention. I especially appreciated the cast of characters section—it kept the many figures straight without slowing down the momentum. And for fellow deep-divers, his bibliography and notes are outstanding. He points you toward next steps if you want to keep learning.
When I finished, I was so taken by the story—and by Strauss’s craftsmanship—that I immediately started reading it again. That almost never happens.
If you’re into ancient history, read this.
If you’re into military history or religious history, read this.
Even if you’re not, still read this. Strauss has written something powerful—accessible, scholarly, and emotionally resonant.
Highly recommended. One of the best history books I’ve read this year.
Strauss dives into two centuries of Jewish resistance against the Roman Empire and tells the story with such emotional depth and narrative drive that I often forgot I was reading history. His writing here feels more passionate, urgent, and human than in his previous books. The stakes are high, the characters—both famous and forgotten—feel alive, and Strauss captures the resilience of the Jewish people with clarity and respect.
As someone who reads a lot of Roman history (maybe too much!), I still gained new insights from this book. Strauss illuminates aspects of the Jewish-Roman conflict that rarely get this level of attention. I especially appreciated the cast of characters section—it kept the many figures straight without slowing down the momentum. And for fellow deep-divers, his bibliography and notes are outstanding. He points you toward next steps if you want to keep learning.
When I finished, I was so taken by the story—and by Strauss’s craftsmanship—that I immediately started reading it again. That almost never happens.
If you’re into ancient history, read this.
If you’re into military history or religious history, read this.
Even if you’re not, still read this. Strauss has written something powerful—accessible, scholarly, and emotionally resonant.
Highly recommended. One of the best history books I’ve read this year.
August 29, 2025
This is a fantastic book to those who wish to understand the Jews in the era from the fall of the hashmonian dynasty to the bar kochva rebellion (about two centuries ending in 137 CE) . It provides thorough overview of the groups, narratives , incentives and realities of the time .
Personally, I find the following question fascinating- how did the Jews shifted from a warrior society (which is obviously described in the Bible ) to a learner society ? Such a cultural revolution must have been a huge drama , and it was!
This book is great source to understanding this shift and the dramas and geopolitics behind it .
Personally, I find the following question fascinating- how did the Jews shifted from a warrior society (which is obviously described in the Bible ) to a learner society ? Such a cultural revolution must have been a huge drama , and it was!
This book is great source to understanding this shift and the dramas and geopolitics behind it .
September 24, 2025
A bit dense but overall a very interesting deep dive. The history book on the shelf really is always repeating itself!
October 21, 2025
Read this book now! Strauss answers so many questions I have had about the relations between Romans and Jews. The Roman empire was vast and all they asked of their provinces was to pay their taxes and keep the peace. That essentially meant no troublemakers allowed, and that included Jesus. He was crucified by prefect Pontius Pilate because he was a threat to the Romans. Christianity becomes a Jewish offshoot and those believers are called Jewish Christians. The Romans were Pagans as is well known, but their beef with Jews was that they would not bow down to the Roman rulers or their numerous gods because Jews believed that there is only one god. Romans even went so far as to make circumcision illegal because they simply found it disgusting.
The Jews of Judea just simply would not go with Roman rule no matter how lenient the Romans may have been. Jews were allowed to govern themselves at one point with King Herod and build a majestic temple in which they could worship as they wished. And so on three occasions the Jewish population revolted and all three were repressed with harsher and harsher penalties on the populations including the destruction of the temple, taxes and numerous killings. They even renamed Judea with Syria Palestina as a punishment. So now you know where the original name of Palestine comes from. In fact, the colosseum in Rome was built with the looting of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It’s no wonder why that temple sight is so sacred to Jews. You may think that the mosque in Jerusalem was built on top of the temple, and technically it is, but in fact it is built on top of both the Jewish temple and a pagan temple. When the Jewish temple was destroyed the Romans punished the Jews even further by building a pagan temple on top of it. Therefore, that mosque is literally the third layer.
The book is so much more in depth than what I have described here, but these are the highlights. There are so many people and things that have happened since the 1st century to the year 600 in the middle east that I did not know about and this book puts it all into place and wraps it up tightly with a nice bow. In the end, just like most empires, the Roman empire finally succumbed to the Germans in the west and then a millennia later to the Islamists in the east. Shades of their past glories are seen throughout Europe and the Middle East. I only think of what could have been for Jews and Judea if they just lived with Roman rule because it eventually collapsed. Judea would have thrived for a millennia and then some. Now Israel as we know it is 78 years old and struggling to survive, but just as it has over the years and through countless rulers it remains. Keep in mind that when Israel was born again in 1948 the name was chosen over Judea because it represents Jewish nationalism and independence. It is obviously aptly named.
The Jews of Judea just simply would not go with Roman rule no matter how lenient the Romans may have been. Jews were allowed to govern themselves at one point with King Herod and build a majestic temple in which they could worship as they wished. And so on three occasions the Jewish population revolted and all three were repressed with harsher and harsher penalties on the populations including the destruction of the temple, taxes and numerous killings. They even renamed Judea with Syria Palestina as a punishment. So now you know where the original name of Palestine comes from. In fact, the colosseum in Rome was built with the looting of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It’s no wonder why that temple sight is so sacred to Jews. You may think that the mosque in Jerusalem was built on top of the temple, and technically it is, but in fact it is built on top of both the Jewish temple and a pagan temple. When the Jewish temple was destroyed the Romans punished the Jews even further by building a pagan temple on top of it. Therefore, that mosque is literally the third layer.
The book is so much more in depth than what I have described here, but these are the highlights. There are so many people and things that have happened since the 1st century to the year 600 in the middle east that I did not know about and this book puts it all into place and wraps it up tightly with a nice bow. In the end, just like most empires, the Roman empire finally succumbed to the Germans in the west and then a millennia later to the Islamists in the east. Shades of their past glories are seen throughout Europe and the Middle East. I only think of what could have been for Jews and Judea if they just lived with Roman rule because it eventually collapsed. Judea would have thrived for a millennia and then some. Now Israel as we know it is 78 years old and struggling to survive, but just as it has over the years and through countless rulers it remains. Keep in mind that when Israel was born again in 1948 the name was chosen over Judea because it represents Jewish nationalism and independence. It is obviously aptly named.
October 6, 2025
Not my favorite of Strauss’s work, but mostly because it paints in broad brush strokes instead of the detail oriented approach I loved about The Death of Caesar, and The War that Made the Roman Empire. Though, this is to be expected for a history covering 200 years of history, and there is still lots to learn. Sometimes the writing feels terse and wooden, and sometimes the arc of the narrative felt disjointed.
Being as steeped in the Christian tradition as the West is, usually Jewish history is confined to what we read in the Old and New Testaments, relegated to being told by religious teachers that have a vested interest in telling the story as fits their narrative. Strauss here is levelheaded, and gives us a full picture of the Jewish revolutionary spirit from Jewish and Roman sources. I admire the Jewish people for their courage and idealism in waging unwinnable battles against the greatest empire of the age. They offer such a shining example of dogged resilience, proving that those who are defeated but go down fighting rise again. Historically speaking, they’ve always been the underdog, consistently a thorn in the side of their more militarily sophisticated enemies. But, this makes me question all the more Israel’s current Palestinian campaign. I will not pretend to be knowledgeable of middle eastern geopolitics. But my initial reaction is that it certainly seems roles have been reversed and Israel has become the oppressor they revolted against so often in their long history
Being as steeped in the Christian tradition as the West is, usually Jewish history is confined to what we read in the Old and New Testaments, relegated to being told by religious teachers that have a vested interest in telling the story as fits their narrative. Strauss here is levelheaded, and gives us a full picture of the Jewish revolutionary spirit from Jewish and Roman sources. I admire the Jewish people for their courage and idealism in waging unwinnable battles against the greatest empire of the age. They offer such a shining example of dogged resilience, proving that those who are defeated but go down fighting rise again. Historically speaking, they’ve always been the underdog, consistently a thorn in the side of their more militarily sophisticated enemies. But, this makes me question all the more Israel’s current Palestinian campaign. I will not pretend to be knowledgeable of middle eastern geopolitics. But my initial reaction is that it certainly seems roles have been reversed and Israel has become the oppressor they revolted against so often in their long history
November 10, 2025
A well written history of the Jewish conflicts with the Roman Empire. At first I got lost in the swirl of names, but Strauss does a good job getting a more clear narrative flow in the three major revolts.
October 14, 2025
Pretty interesting. The timeline could have been clearer.
December 14, 2025
Jews to Rome: don’t tread on me! The book sheds light on the fact that Rome wasn’t a monolithic Death Star, it was an empire trying to hold it’s edges together, and struggling to deal with the hornets nest that was the province of Judea whose population was game and heroic despite being outmanned and out-sworded.
October 18, 2025
A lot of Jewish history, some of which I’d forgotten, some with new perspective. Interesting insight into the reason for the construction of the Colosseum in Rome, which I just visited.
October 16, 2025
A Jewish war that lasted two centuries
Barry Strauss’s book, “Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire,” will surprise most readers and give them much fascinating and surprising information. We learn, for example, that Jews did not need to engage in long-lasting battles against Rome, lose sovereignty over their country, and have many of its citizens expelled from their country for two thousand years, had it not been for sinat chillum, “baseless hatred” of some Jews against other Jews.
Barry Strauss is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor at Cornell University. He is considered a leading expert on military history. He wrote fourteen other books on ancient wars before this 359-page 2025 volume, with an index of nineteen pages in two columns per page. He wrote several on Rome and Greece, as well as on comparing ancient and modern battles. His books are in easy-to-read English, without any attempt to use scholarly language to impress readers. An added treat, thanks to his deep knowledge of the subject, is a wealth of fascinating details about events and people, including their impact on the past, present, and future.
In tractate Yoma 9b, the Talmud states that the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and its bloodshed were due to sinat chinam, “baseless hatred,” of some Jews against fellow Jews. The Talmud explains that even while Judea’s inhabitants were engaged in Torah study and proper acts of kindness, the destruction occurred because of their internal hatred for one another.
Strauss does not mention this talmudic observation because this is not his field of interest. Still, he shows the terrible mistreatment of groups of Jews fighting each other numerous times during the two centuries they also fought for and against Rome. This situation still exists today, leading me to think that some of the worst antisemites are Jews.
In Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire, Strauss tells the history beginning in 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompey (106-48 BCE) was able to conquer and take control of Judea because of Jewish rivalry in Judea, the name Israel had at that time, to 136 CE when the Bar Kokhba Revolt was crushed. This was a turbulent period in Jewish history, marked by political resistance and religious fervor, clashes of internal Jewish hatreds, and opposition to the might of the Roman Empire.
The book is filled with fascinating information presented in a balanced tone. Strauss does not romanticize rebellion, nor does he demonize Rome. Instead, he presents a clear-eyed view of the motivations, missteps, and consequences on both sides, offering a portrait of an ancient, long-lasting struggle that echoes in other struggles, both ancient and recent.
To understand the significance of this two-hundred-year series of wars between a small country and a world power, one needs to compare the Judean two-century battles with the American fight against the then world power, England, in 1775.
In 1775, the war between America and England started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April. The British attempted to seize colonial military supplies in Massachusetts, but colonial minutemen intercepted them. This led to armed conflict that spread throughout the year, including the significant engagement at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. The Second Continental Congress formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander.
If the founders of America had been forced to surrender in 1775, as the Judeans were in 63 BCE, and had continued to fight for two centuries, as the Judeans did, the American fight would not have ended until 1974.
The two centuries were marked by Judean hatred toward Rome due to its conquest and control of Judea in 63 BCE. There were three pivotal violent rebellions against Rome: the Great Revolt of 66 to 74 CE, which resulted, among other calamities, in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE; the Diaspora Revolt of 116 CE; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132 to 136 CE. There were also many more minor battles before and sandwiched within these three. In each struggle between Judeans and Rome, thousands of Judeans fought alongside the Romans against their brothers.
Strauss breathes new life into these ancient events. For example, he doesn't just recount the destruction of the Temple or the mass suicide at Masada. He places these ancient events in a broader geopolitical and human context. As a result, readers gain insight into the internal divisions within the Jewish world since the beginning of time, the often-overlooked roles of women such as Queen Helena (died around 60 CE), who converted to Judaism, Berenice, the Jewish daughter of King Agrippa (born 28 CE), who supported the Romans, as well as the repetitive clashes between empires.
He challenges older narratives found in other histories and brings fascinating nuances to familiar stories. His prose is both scholarly and accessible, making this book valuable for academics, students, and general readers alike. His portrayals of figures like Simon Bar Kokhba, who was killed in 136, are complex and evocative, capturing both heroism and hubris.
Strauss’s book is a masterful addition to the literature of ancient history and a powerful reminder that the past is a mirror image and snapshot of current struggles, and what motivated the past continues to shape the world we live in.
While the Judeans physically lost the final battle in 136, they left their descendants with a sense of pride and nobility that is reflected in modern Israel, not in ancient Rome, which no longer exists.
Barry Strauss’s book, “Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire,” will surprise most readers and give them much fascinating and surprising information. We learn, for example, that Jews did not need to engage in long-lasting battles against Rome, lose sovereignty over their country, and have many of its citizens expelled from their country for two thousand years, had it not been for sinat chillum, “baseless hatred” of some Jews against other Jews.
Barry Strauss is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor at Cornell University. He is considered a leading expert on military history. He wrote fourteen other books on ancient wars before this 359-page 2025 volume, with an index of nineteen pages in two columns per page. He wrote several on Rome and Greece, as well as on comparing ancient and modern battles. His books are in easy-to-read English, without any attempt to use scholarly language to impress readers. An added treat, thanks to his deep knowledge of the subject, is a wealth of fascinating details about events and people, including their impact on the past, present, and future.
In tractate Yoma 9b, the Talmud states that the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and its bloodshed were due to sinat chinam, “baseless hatred,” of some Jews against fellow Jews. The Talmud explains that even while Judea’s inhabitants were engaged in Torah study and proper acts of kindness, the destruction occurred because of their internal hatred for one another.
Strauss does not mention this talmudic observation because this is not his field of interest. Still, he shows the terrible mistreatment of groups of Jews fighting each other numerous times during the two centuries they also fought for and against Rome. This situation still exists today, leading me to think that some of the worst antisemites are Jews.
In Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire, Strauss tells the history beginning in 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompey (106-48 BCE) was able to conquer and take control of Judea because of Jewish rivalry in Judea, the name Israel had at that time, to 136 CE when the Bar Kokhba Revolt was crushed. This was a turbulent period in Jewish history, marked by political resistance and religious fervor, clashes of internal Jewish hatreds, and opposition to the might of the Roman Empire.
The book is filled with fascinating information presented in a balanced tone. Strauss does not romanticize rebellion, nor does he demonize Rome. Instead, he presents a clear-eyed view of the motivations, missteps, and consequences on both sides, offering a portrait of an ancient, long-lasting struggle that echoes in other struggles, both ancient and recent.
To understand the significance of this two-hundred-year series of wars between a small country and a world power, one needs to compare the Judean two-century battles with the American fight against the then world power, England, in 1775.
In 1775, the war between America and England started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April. The British attempted to seize colonial military supplies in Massachusetts, but colonial minutemen intercepted them. This led to armed conflict that spread throughout the year, including the significant engagement at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. The Second Continental Congress formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander.
If the founders of America had been forced to surrender in 1775, as the Judeans were in 63 BCE, and had continued to fight for two centuries, as the Judeans did, the American fight would not have ended until 1974.
The two centuries were marked by Judean hatred toward Rome due to its conquest and control of Judea in 63 BCE. There were three pivotal violent rebellions against Rome: the Great Revolt of 66 to 74 CE, which resulted, among other calamities, in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE; the Diaspora Revolt of 116 CE; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132 to 136 CE. There were also many more minor battles before and sandwiched within these three. In each struggle between Judeans and Rome, thousands of Judeans fought alongside the Romans against their brothers.
Strauss breathes new life into these ancient events. For example, he doesn't just recount the destruction of the Temple or the mass suicide at Masada. He places these ancient events in a broader geopolitical and human context. As a result, readers gain insight into the internal divisions within the Jewish world since the beginning of time, the often-overlooked roles of women such as Queen Helena (died around 60 CE), who converted to Judaism, Berenice, the Jewish daughter of King Agrippa (born 28 CE), who supported the Romans, as well as the repetitive clashes between empires.
He challenges older narratives found in other histories and brings fascinating nuances to familiar stories. His prose is both scholarly and accessible, making this book valuable for academics, students, and general readers alike. His portrayals of figures like Simon Bar Kokhba, who was killed in 136, are complex and evocative, capturing both heroism and hubris.
Strauss’s book is a masterful addition to the literature of ancient history and a powerful reminder that the past is a mirror image and snapshot of current struggles, and what motivated the past continues to shape the world we live in.
While the Judeans physically lost the final battle in 136, they left their descendants with a sense of pride and nobility that is reflected in modern Israel, not in ancient Rome, which no longer exists.
September 21, 2025
To me it is an interesting book but not a great book. I had problems with it holding my interest. It started out a little slow, got interesting and then towards the last quarter of the book my interest started to flag a bit.
October 26, 2025
Where's the beef?
Strauss states that “This book’s contribution is to focus on the Jewish state’s unique position between East and West, between Parthia and Rome.” And it does focus on that, but often with speculation and a lot of arguments, that, while logical, don't seem definitive. In fact, I'm left more confused about how the Jews were seen by the Romans because Strauss's contention is Parthia/Persia lay behind the Romans' particular treatment of the Jews, but so was the fact that they were seen as a long-standing part of the empire.
Then there is the fact that we have to rely on a very opinionated Kremlinology of Josephus. Strauss makes an heroic effort to guide us through Josephus's contradictions, but I often wonder if this is even possible. Perhaps some of the archaeological discoveries Strauss talks about would have served as a better spine for this book.
Going more in depth, at least, according to some of the other sources would have been helpful. Despite the book being titled Jews vs. Rome, Strauss says its purpose is to focus on the Parthian element of that conflict. A lot more background about the Jews in Parthia and their relationship with their government would have been helpful.
Where Strauss's work here does shine is in sort of pointing out how the Romans treated the Jews still echoes today, perhaps even more so, because the Romans were the last power to fight the Jews until the 20th century. There is an interesting thread to be pulled from this book on how these threads still echo. Christians being in the most loyalist wing shows itself in the progression of the Gospels and their attitude toward the Jews. The guilt for Jesus's crucifixion shifts steadily from the Romans to the Jews the more time passes.
Indeed, Strauss's original purpose, to discuss how Jews were seen both as foreign and domestic enemies, in a time where they could and did fight, so clearly echos today it seems as if *that* should have been the book's purpose, if not a more general focus talking about the gospels.
Still, this is an interesting collection on the Jewish and Roman conflicts. Some of the incidents are described too briefly, but as a whole, it is worth reading and thinking about, even if I have to say this book could have been great, it's still good.
Strauss states that “This book’s contribution is to focus on the Jewish state’s unique position between East and West, between Parthia and Rome.” And it does focus on that, but often with speculation and a lot of arguments, that, while logical, don't seem definitive. In fact, I'm left more confused about how the Jews were seen by the Romans because Strauss's contention is Parthia/Persia lay behind the Romans' particular treatment of the Jews, but so was the fact that they were seen as a long-standing part of the empire.
Then there is the fact that we have to rely on a very opinionated Kremlinology of Josephus. Strauss makes an heroic effort to guide us through Josephus's contradictions, but I often wonder if this is even possible. Perhaps some of the archaeological discoveries Strauss talks about would have served as a better spine for this book.
Going more in depth, at least, according to some of the other sources would have been helpful. Despite the book being titled Jews vs. Rome, Strauss says its purpose is to focus on the Parthian element of that conflict. A lot more background about the Jews in Parthia and their relationship with their government would have been helpful.
Where Strauss's work here does shine is in sort of pointing out how the Romans treated the Jews still echoes today, perhaps even more so, because the Romans were the last power to fight the Jews until the 20th century. There is an interesting thread to be pulled from this book on how these threads still echo. Christians being in the most loyalist wing shows itself in the progression of the Gospels and their attitude toward the Jews. The guilt for Jesus's crucifixion shifts steadily from the Romans to the Jews the more time passes.
Indeed, Strauss's original purpose, to discuss how Jews were seen both as foreign and domestic enemies, in a time where they could and did fight, so clearly echos today it seems as if *that* should have been the book's purpose, if not a more general focus talking about the gospels.
Still, this is an interesting collection on the Jewish and Roman conflicts. Some of the incidents are described too briefly, but as a whole, it is worth reading and thinking about, even if I have to say this book could have been great, it's still good.
November 15, 2025
I learned a lot from this history of Judaism under Rome. After a quick dive into government and intellectual life under the House of Herod, it focuses on the three main Jewish revolts: the Jewish War of AD 70, the Kitos War of 116 (about which we know sadly little), and the Bar-Kokhba Rebellion of 132. I'd known about the Jewish War, but only a few facts about the others.
On the one hand, it feels like the revolts all fell apart through inadequate preparations and poor decisions, especially the AD 70 revolt which neglected to take advantage of the terrain to ambush the Romans and instead fell to infighting. On the other hand, it feels like all of this was futile against the huge might of Rome. And considering how hostile the rebels were to Christianity, I can't shake the feeling that the poor decisions were Divine judgment on them.
And finally the Jewish spirit of temporal rebellion was crushed, and this shows again how heavy the yoke of Rome was.
On the one hand, it feels like the revolts all fell apart through inadequate preparations and poor decisions, especially the AD 70 revolt which neglected to take advantage of the terrain to ambush the Romans and instead fell to infighting. On the other hand, it feels like all of this was futile against the huge might of Rome. And considering how hostile the rebels were to Christianity, I can't shake the feeling that the poor decisions were Divine judgment on them.
And finally the Jewish spirit of temporal rebellion was crushed, and this shows again how heavy the yoke of Rome was.
September 11, 2025
What I most appreciate about this book is that it doesn't simply focus on the Jewish War (66-70 AD) and the fall of Masada, but takes a larger look--in both directions--at the larger history between Judea and Rome.
The author takes the time to set the stage for the conflicts by showing how Roman and Jewish activity in other parts of the empire (and beyond) shaped the events in the Judean epicenter of their shared story. Yet, even when the narrative visits places like Armenia, Syria, or Parthia, it does so in a manner that is relevant to the Jewish vs Roman story, and not as a mere sidebar.
The only ding I would count against this book is that sometimes the author goes out of his way to (repeatedly) remind the reader of his perspective about the overall reliability (or lack thereof?) of the writings of Josephus.
The author takes the time to set the stage for the conflicts by showing how Roman and Jewish activity in other parts of the empire (and beyond) shaped the events in the Judean epicenter of their shared story. Yet, even when the narrative visits places like Armenia, Syria, or Parthia, it does so in a manner that is relevant to the Jewish vs Roman story, and not as a mere sidebar.
The only ding I would count against this book is that sometimes the author goes out of his way to (repeatedly) remind the reader of his perspective about the overall reliability (or lack thereof?) of the writings of Josephus.
October 23, 2025
Ancient Rome has gone down in Jewish history as the ultimate enemy of the Jewish people. Even the Babylonians, who destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem, were not considered as evil. Perhaps that’s because the Jewish population was able to rebuild the Temple about 70 years later and did not suffer two centuries of repression under the Babylonians. Yet, as Barry Strauss writes in his military history “Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest Empire” (Simon and Schuster), the many Jewish revolts against Rome also pitted Jew against Jew. Those who supported the empire not only accepted Roman rule, but saw the rebellions as increasing the oppression under which they lived.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...
November 24, 2025
Prof. Strauss gives a comprehensive review of the major Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire from the time of the Roman conquest by Pompey to the coming of the armies of Islam. He sees the Jews, or at least some of them, as consistently unwilling to accept Roman rule. The revolts wee essentially doomed from the beginning, but they reoccurred. Strauss speculates that the revolts helped mold the character of te Jewish people. After all, the Roman Empire is gone bt a Jewish state lives in Israel.
This is a solid history, tho the nature of the study means each revolt is somewhat cursorily covered. It has an extensive bibliography for those who wish to investigate further.
This is a solid history, tho the nature of the study means each revolt is somewhat cursorily covered. It has an extensive bibliography for those who wish to investigate further.
December 17, 2025
There is a lot of information in this book, but some information is repeated so often that I began to become frustrated. How many times to I need to read that Josephus inflates numbers and that he wrote so that the various emperors would continue to give him a pension. But, despite this, the information and background of the revolts and the world politics of the time was quite interesting.
October 17, 2025
Nothing new. 3/4 about the easily researched great revolt. And a lot of that is related more than once in the book. The last quarter of the book does not shine any new light on the Diaspora and Bar Cokva revolts. Some interesting notes in the appendix, but hardly a justification for the whole book.
November 3, 2025
Struggled to finish this book. Part of the problem was the similar names and it was hard to determine who was who. Also the Jews fighting amongst themselves seemed like they were fighting just to fight. I was bored and I thought it would be more exciting.
November 16, 2025
Very interesting from a historical view in documenting the earliest days of identifiable Jewish civilization in what is now Israel. Interesting analysis of the writings of Josephus and others "documenting" (with exaggeration) the era. Perhaps a little too much archeological analysis.
October 7, 2025
Found this very difficult to read and did not finish.
October 16, 2025
Jews vs Rome powerfully captures the enduring resilience of the Jewish people and their ability to rebuild identity and faith after every catastrophe.
December 1, 2025
A badly written, biased mix of tabloid speculation and some academic knowledge
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2025
This was a difficult read, with the Masada and Epilogue chapters being my favorites.
December 8, 2025
The first half or so was just summarizing Josephus and adding made up details to it. The parts about the later rebellions were more interesting.
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