Rome’s relationship with the Jewish population of the Roman Empire had been strained since the destruction of Jerusalem in the 1st century CE, and Hadrian’s focus on Romanizing the province of Judaea greatly exacerbated tensions. He aimed to transform Jerusalem into a Roman metropolis, and in 132 he banned the practice of castration and circumcision. A short time later, many Jews in Judaea revolted under the charismatic Bar Kokhba, a man who had been recognized by some as the messiah.
Bar Kokhba’s revolt was successful at the start. He quickly occupied the Judaean countryside and forced the provincial governor to request reinforcements. Hadrian transferred his most talented generals to the region. Among them was Julius Severus, who took command of the imperial forces. He deployed three legions and at least 17 auxiliary units; one of these legions was likely obliterated by insurgents. Taking note of Bar Kokhba’s reluctance to engage him in open combat, Severus adopted a scorched-earth strategy, leveling hundreds of villages and outposts. The rebels often hid in underground tunnels, so he starved and burned them out from above. By 135 the revolt had been extinguished and Bar Kokhba killed, but only after enormous losses on both sides.
Hadrian resolved to stamp the Jews and their religion out of existence. He sold all Jewish prisoners into slavery, forbade the teaching of the Torah, renamed the province Syria Palaestina, and changed Jerusalem’s name to Aelia Capitolina (although scholars are divided over whether to place Jerusalem’s name change before or after the revolt). Synagogues were replaced with Roman temples. More painful was his edict barring Jews from so much as looking upon their fallen capital. Many prominent rabbis violated this edict and martyred themselves in the process. Hadrian’s efforts had a lasting effect: the Jews would not regain control of their ancestral homeland for over 1,800 years.