For most of its history the Holy Land was occupied by the armies of conquering Empires. In the time of Jesus it was the military might of Rome that held sway, with nine Roman legions stationed in the east. Together with auxiliaries this meant over 100,000 soldiers. At the height of First Jewish Revolt Vespasian deployed half these forces against the pitifully armed and untrained Jewish fighters. But the Romans didn’t intend doing battle with these upstarts – they came to subdue the countryside and lay siege to the towns.
This page is part of the book The Holy Land of Jesus
Follow News from JerusalemShare this page with your friends