Conquering Jerusalem
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS PROVIDES UNPARALLELED NEW INSIGHT INTO THE FIRST JEWISH REVOLT
Dando-Collins details the conflict from both sides of the 7-year campaign. His examination of the revolt draws upon numerous archaeological and forensic discoveries made in recent years to illuminate the people and events as never before.
Neither side emerges from the conflict unscathed. Both were at times equally heroic and barbaric. In the end, the Jewish freedom fighters lost the war and lost Jerusalem, their holy city– the focus of the campaign by both sides. Yet today, Jerusalem is once more the heart of the Jewish faith, while, thanks to Christianity–an offshoot of Judaism–the Roman Empire and its gods are long gone.
Conquering Jerusalem illustrates that faith can have its rewards, and the tables can be turned, if you wait long enough.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Dando-Collins (Caesar's Legion) presents a granular, blow-by-blow account of the first Jewish uprising against Roman rule in Judea. He opens with the 66 CE attack on the Roman garrison of Masada by Menahem ben Judah, leader of a band of Jewish nationalists known as the Sicarri, or "daggermen," who assassinated Roman collaborators "by sidling up to them in crowds, drawing a dagger from beneath their cloaks, then stabbing their victims before melting back into the crowd." Seizing weapons from the garrison, Menahem and his followers marched to Jerusalem, where a revolt against Roman procurator Gessius Florus was already underway. Jewish Temple official Eleazar ben Ananias killed Menahem in a power struggle, took control of partisan forces in Jerusalem, and executed the remaining Roman legionaries after promising them free passage if they surrendered. Jewish forces defeated the first Roman army sent to reclaim Jerusalem, but a brutal siege led by Roman general Titus, combined with infighting among rebel leaders, succeeded in 70 CE, resulting in the destruction of much of the city. Dando-Collins draws on recent archeological findings to relate many gruesome death scenes, but his attempts to provide historical context are less than enlightening. This uneven chronicle is best suited to hardcore military history buffs.
