100: CONTINUED The rebels utilized successful asymmetrical warfare, operating from underground tunnel systems and ambushing Roman forces. The conflict was so severe that Hadrian deployed reinforcements from across the empire, including Britain, and the Roman
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 18 November 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
The rebels utilized successful asymmetrical warfare, operating from underground tunnel systems and ambushing Roman forces. The conflict was so severe that Hadrian deployed reinforcements from across the empire, including Britain, and the Roman army was badly mauled. The revolt ended bloodily at the stronghold of Betar. As lasting punishment for centuries of trouble and rebellion, the Romans renamed the province from Judea to Syria Palestina. Pockets of resistance continued, notably the Gallus Revolt in 351–352 AD. Guest: Professor Barry Strauss.
CLAUDIUS BEGS HIS LIFE
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchel with Professor Barry Strauss of the Hoover Institution, Emeritus at Cornell University. |
| 0:10.8 | His new book is Jews versus Roman, Rome. |
| 0:14.3 | And it is the 4th century A.D. |
| 0:18.0 | And the very prominent Christian bishop, Jerome Jerome is writing of the Gallus revolt. What is that, |
| 0:26.1 | Professor? So, yes, good question. What is that? It's a revolt that takes place in the year |
| 0:31.1 | 351 and 352. Gallus is the Roman official in charge of the eastern part of the Roman Empire, a relative of the emperor. |
| 0:41.5 | And we don't actually know very much about this revolt. |
| 0:45.8 | We get a few bits and snatches about it from the ancient sources, particularly both from the Christian sources and the pagan Roman sources. |
| 0:56.0 | And it seems to take place in the Galilee. |
| 1:01.8 | There's a figure, a man named Patrick, Patricius, |
| 1:06.0 | and Patrick, not generally considered a Jewish name nowadays, |
| 1:09.2 | but it was in ancient times, because we know of a man who endowed a synagogue named Patricius. |
| 1:15.2 | And the Roman source, the pagan source, says that the Jews treated him as a king, which makes many of us suspect they treated him as a Messiah. |
| 1:25.4 | Now, the revolt was sent to in the Galilee, but there were still a few Jews |
| 1:30.8 | living in Judea in the historic heartland, not far from Jerusalem. And in recent years, archaeologists |
| 1:37.4 | have found coin hordes from these revolts. The rebels did not issue their own coins. They used Roman coins, but these coins were |
| 1:46.0 | buried in places that were destroyed at the time of the Gallus rebellion. What were they |
| 1:52.8 | rebelling against? Well, we don't really know what the Romans had done to inspire a revolt. |
| 2:00.4 | There's this one building in the city of Ludd in central Israel. |
| 2:06.3 | Buildings have been excavated. |
| 2:08.2 | It doesn't have any pig bones in it, which leads people to suspect it was a Jewish building, |
| 2:13.9 | perhaps a study hall, perhaps a synagogue, and there are coins that are buried there |
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