Nadene Goldfoot
Jerusalem had been destroyed by Emperor Titus in 70 CE along with the complete destruction of the 2nd Temple on the Temple Mount. The Jewish people had been starved to death who tried to stay during the attack. After it was over, those still alive were taken as slaves to Rome. Some had managed to escape to Spain and other parts of the world.
Emperor Hadrian, Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 had rebuilt the city somewhat during the 130's when Aluf Bar Kokhba of the Judean Army had reappeared with men and had retaken Jerusalem and held it for 3 years in 132. He was said to be of Davidic descent. His name meant, "son of the star." He was the nephew of Rabbi Eleazar of Modiin. There was a revolt against Hadrian in 132 CE which Simeon Bar Kokhba led. Reasons for the revolt would be to take back their city of David! That should be enough reason. Jerusalem was being rebuilt as a Roman colony. There was an edict out of a prohibition of circumcision to remaining Jews. Bar Kokhba and his men recaptured Jerusalem, but it's hard to imagine that they were able to annihilate a whole legion of Romans. Even so, coins were minted during those 3 successful years with the names of Simeon and Eleazer the head Priest (Cohen) which shows an established revolutionary regime.
Hadrian had visited Jerusalem in 130 and decided to hellenize the country by converting Jerusalem into a Roman colony named after himself. This caused the rebellion against him by the jews. The war with the Jews led by Bar Kokhba was the most difficult of his reign. After his victory, he had the title of Imperator. Judea became a consular province called Syria-Palaestina.
The ruins of Jerusalem were reconstructed as a pagan city, and an equestrian statue of Hadrian was erected on the site of the Holy of Holies. A Roman Temple was built over the site and lasted until the Moslem period when they built a mosque over the Roman Temple.
From the Talmud we read that the Romans first entered Galilee, then 133 CE, the Romans held a counterattack with an army of 35,000 under Hadrian and the commander, Julius Severus had begun. They fought in actions for the Valley of Jezreel, Ephraim and the Judean Hills, eventually retaking Jerusalem.
From 134 to 135 CE, the Romans reduced the remaining hill and cave strongholds, Betar, of the Judeans. Bar Kokhba was killed when Betar fell when it was stormed by such a huge army. The Romans had destroyed 50 fortresses and 985 villages, and of 580,000 Jewish casualties besides those who died of hunger and disease. As a result of the revolt, Judea fell into desolation, its population was annihilated, and Jerusalem was turned into a heathen city, barred to Jews. Bar Kokhba's personality has been blurred by censorship, but he must be credited with the military ability in organizing a nearly total popular revolt which engaged the best Roman forces for over 3 years. It was an embarrassment to the Romans and they were ready to punish the Jews.
Rabbi Akiva said Bar Kokhba was the Messiah, but not all the rabbis accepted this view. In the Talmud, he is represented as having great personal strength, was autocratic and irascible. Letters he had written have been found near at the Dead Sea.
By now, the Roman Emperor Hadrian had built a temple over the site of Jesus's tomb near Calvary and renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina. He dedicated the Temple to either of his gods Venus or Jupiter.
Queen Helena (246-330CE) was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. Supposedly she had destroyed this temple, known then as being for Venus, to be torn down. Such is the story told by the end of the 4th century. She had chosen a site to begin excavation which led to the recovery of remnants from her chosen god, Jesus, and was looking for crosses. There already was a Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem who may have helped this story along by then, and said that the Queen had a woman near death brought from the city, and when she touched the first two crosses, her condition didn't change, but when she touched the third and last cross, she suddenly recovered. Helena then declared the cross touched to be THE TRUE CROSS.
Queen Helena had been born to the lowest of commoners, possibly in Drepana, Bithynia in Asia Minor, and had become the consort of the future Roman Emperor, Constantius Chlorus who reigned from 293 to 306, and was the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great who reigned fro 306 to 337, a regular Cinderella story. She helped Christianity get started due to her influence on her son. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem. During this time, she allegedly discovered THE TRUE CROSS. Later established churches; The Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion Church revered her as a saint. The Lutheran Church commemorates her.
" Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace's private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries."
Her son, Constantine I "the Great", was the 1st Christian emperor of Rome and ruled from 312 to 337. He's the one responsible for the EDICT OF TOLERATION which he issued at Milan in 312 which established the supremacy of Christianity. It was like a political battle between the new Christianity and the long established Judaism. In 315, his decrees took on anti-Jewish attacks, canceling Jewish exemptions from political office and prohibiting proselytization or interference with Jewish converts to Christianity.
The emperor's legislation initiated the legal degradation of Jews that was characteristic of the Middle Ages. Actually, this was the first government produced anti-Semitism and would set the stage for many countries to follow such as Spain's Spanish Inquisition.
The irony is that Rome had an edict of Toleration against new Christians a few years earlier. "On February 23, 303, on the Terminalia feast, Emperor Diocletian, by proposal of Galerius, issued a persecutory edict. The edict prescribed: much of what he used against Jews. Then the next emperor did the very same thing to the Jews only worse.
"Constantine's mother,Empress Helena, a woman of low social standing was from Helenopolis of Bithynia. It is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine. His main language was Latin, and during his public speeches he needed Greek translators. "In 288, Maximian appointed Constantius to serve as his praetorian prefect in Gaul. Constantius left Helena to marry Maximian's stepdaughter Theodora in 288 or 289.
Jerusalem had been destroyed by Emperor Titus in 70 CE along with the complete destruction of the 2nd Temple on the Temple Mount. The Jewish people had been starved to death who tried to stay during the attack. After it was over, those still alive were taken as slaves to Rome. Some had managed to escape to Spain and other parts of the world.
 |
| Aluf Bar Kokhba took Jerusalem back in 132 and held it for 3 years |
Hadrian had visited Jerusalem in 130 and decided to hellenize the country by converting Jerusalem into a Roman colony named after himself. This caused the rebellion against him by the jews. The war with the Jews led by Bar Kokhba was the most difficult of his reign. After his victory, he had the title of Imperator. Judea became a consular province called Syria-Palaestina.
The ruins of Jerusalem were reconstructed as a pagan city, and an equestrian statue of Hadrian was erected on the site of the Holy of Holies. A Roman Temple was built over the site and lasted until the Moslem period when they built a mosque over the Roman Temple.
From the Talmud we read that the Romans first entered Galilee, then 133 CE, the Romans held a counterattack with an army of 35,000 under Hadrian and the commander, Julius Severus had begun. They fought in actions for the Valley of Jezreel, Ephraim and the Judean Hills, eventually retaking Jerusalem.
 |
| Hadrian |
By now, the Roman Emperor Hadrian had built a temple over the site of Jesus's tomb near Calvary and renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina. He dedicated the Temple to either of his gods Venus or Jupiter.
Queen Helena (246-330CE) was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. Supposedly she had destroyed this temple, known then as being for Venus, to be torn down. Such is the story told by the end of the 4th century. She had chosen a site to begin excavation which led to the recovery of remnants from her chosen god, Jesus, and was looking for crosses. There already was a Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem who may have helped this story along by then, and said that the Queen had a woman near death brought from the city, and when she touched the first two crosses, her condition didn't change, but when she touched the third and last cross, she suddenly recovered. Helena then declared the cross touched to be THE TRUE CROSS.
" Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace's private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries."
Her son, Constantine I "the Great", was the 1st Christian emperor of Rome and ruled from 312 to 337. He's the one responsible for the EDICT OF TOLERATION which he issued at Milan in 312 which established the supremacy of Christianity. It was like a political battle between the new Christianity and the long established Judaism. In 315, his decrees took on anti-Jewish attacks, canceling Jewish exemptions from political office and prohibiting proselytization or interference with Jewish converts to Christianity.
The emperor's legislation initiated the legal degradation of Jews that was characteristic of the Middle Ages. Actually, this was the first government produced anti-Semitism and would set the stage for many countries to follow such as Spain's Spanish Inquisition.
The irony is that Rome had an edict of Toleration against new Christians a few years earlier. "On February 23, 303, on the Terminalia feast, Emperor Diocletian, by proposal of Galerius, issued a persecutory edict. The edict prescribed: much of what he used against Jews. Then the next emperor did the very same thing to the Jews only worse.
"Constantine's mother,Empress Helena, a woman of low social standing was from Helenopolis of Bithynia. It is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine. His main language was Latin, and during his public speeches he needed Greek translators. "In 288, Maximian appointed Constantius to serve as his praetorian prefect in Gaul. Constantius left Helena to marry Maximian's stepdaughter Theodora in 288 or 289.
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
