Kitos War
| Kitos War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Jewish–Roman War | |||||||||
Map of Judaea (red), the Roman province where Jewish aspirations for independence had spurred the Jewish–Roman wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Roman Empire | Jews | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Roman & Greek deaths: 200,000 in Cyrene, 240,000 in Cyprus (per Cassius Dio). Unknown deaths in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Judea, and Syria. | Destruction and displacement of Jewish communities in North Africa, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Egypt | ||||||||
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The Kitos War took place from 116 to 118, as part of the Second Jewish–Roman War. Ancient Jewish sources date it to 52 years after the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73) and 16 years before the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136). Like other conflicts of the Jewish–Roman wars, the Kitos War was spurred by discontent among the Jews towards the Roman Empire. This sentiment, which most likely intensified significantly in the wake of the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70, had triggered another series of major Jewish uprisings throughout Judaea and the rest of the Near East, including Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia.
Following the suppression of the Mesopotamian Jewish revolt, the Roman emperor Trajan appointed his general Lusius Quietus (also known as Kitos) as consul and governor of Judaea. Late Syriac-language sources suggest that Jewish rebels from Egypt and Libya relocated to Judaea, but were defeated there by the Roman army. However, the reliability of these sources is debated, and modern scholarship remains cautious with the lack of confirmation from the Greco-Roman historians Cassius Dio and Eusebius, who were the main sources for the events of the Second Jewish–Roman War.
A large number of Jews were executed by Roman troops besieging Lydda, where Jewish rebels had gathered under the leadership of brothers Julian and Pappus. These "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in the Talmud.
Although they had successfully put down numerous Jewish revolts, the Romans' situation in Judaea remained highly tense, prompting Trajan's successor Hadrian to permanently move Legio VI Ferrata into Caesarea Maritima. This environment climaxed with the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt shortly thereafter, beginning with the establishment of an independent Jewish state by the rebels and ending with the massacre and displacement of Jews throughout Judaea, as well as the likely destruction or near-destruction of three Roman legions.