III. FROM A.D. 70 TO THE TURKISH CONQUEST Political History from A.D. 70.—The destruction of Jeru salem was followed by the dispersal of the Jews, for whom till then it had been the religious and political centre. The first seat of the sanhedrin was at Jamnia (Yebna), where the Rabbinic sys tem began to be formulated. The rigid code of dogmas and observ ances elaborated by the rabbis exercised a singularly uniting power over the scattered nation and prevented such an absorption of the Jewish people into the Roman empire as had caused the dis appearance of the ten tribes of Israel in Assyria.
It would appear that at first, of ter` the destruction of Jerusalem, no specially repressive measures were contemplated by the con quering Romans, who rather attempted to reconcile the Jews to their subject state by a leniency which had proved successful in the case of other peoples brought by conquest within the empire. But they had reckoned without the isolating influence of Rabbin ism. Here and there small insurrections took place, in themselves easily suppressed, but showing the Romans that they had a turbu lent and troublesome people to deal with. At last Hadrian deter mined to stamp out this stubborn Jewish nationalism. He issued an edict forbidding the reading of the law, the observance of the Sabbath, and the rite of circumcision ; and determined to convert the still half-ruined Jerusalem into a Roman colony.
The consequence of this edict was the meteor-like outbreak of Bar-Cochba (q.v.) A.D. 132-135. The origin of this person and the history of his rise to power are unknown. It was his recogni tion as the Messiah by the celebrated Rabbi Akiba, then the most influential Jew alive, which placed him in the command of the in surrection, with 200,000 men at his command. Jerusalem was captured, as well as a large number of strongholds and villages throughout the country. Iulius Severus, sent with an immense army by Hadrian, came to quell the insurrection and recaptured Jerusalem. The rebels fled to Bethar—the modern Bittir, near Jerusalem, where the fortress garrisoned by them still remains, under the name Khurbet el-Yahud, or "Ruin of the Jews"—and were there defeated and slaughtered in a sanguinary encounter.
Hadrian then turned Jerusalem into a Roman colony, changed its name to Aelia Capitolina, built a temple of Jupiter on the site of the Jewish temple and (it is alleged) a temple of Venus on Mt. Golgotha and forbade any Jew, on pain of death, to appear within sight of the city.
This disaster was the death-blow to hopes of a Jewish national independence, and the leaders of the people devoted themselves thenceforth to legal and religious study in the Rabbinical schools, which from A.D. 135 (the year of the suppression of the revolt) onwards developed in various towns in the hitherto despised province of Galilee. Seffurieh (Sepphoris) and especially Tubariya (Tiberias) became centres of this learning and the remains of syna gogues of the 2nd or 3rd century which still exist in Galilee attest the strength of Judaism in that district during the years following the abortive attempt of Bar-Cochba.
Palestine continued directly under Roman rule. East of the Jordan, Cornelius Palma added Gilead and Moab to the empire under Trajan in A.D. 105. In 295 Auranitis, Batanea and Trachon itis were brought within the provincial system.
The conversion of Constantine to Christianity—or rather the profession of Christianity by Constantine—seemed likely to result in another Jewish persecution, foreshadowed by severe repressive edicts. This, however, was averted by the emperor's death.
The progress of the corrupt Christianity of the empire of By zantium was checked for. a while under Julian the Apostate, who, among other indications of his opposition to Christianity, re scinded the edicts against the Jews on his coming to the throne in 361, and gave orders for the restoration of the Jewish temple.
The latter work was interrupted almost as soon as begun by an extraordinary phenomenon—the outburst of flames and loud de tonations, easily explained at the time as a divine judgment on this direct attempt to falsify the prophecy of Christ.