When Herod dies, his kingdom is split up into parts and his sons take control. For the most part, his sons were ineffective and eventually replaced by Roman procurators. One of these governors was Pontius Pilate. He governed from 26-36 CE. He was ineffective and provoked the Jews. Pilate is the only Roman Governor of Judea mentioned in the Gospel. During this time period, Jewish nationalism was on the rise and in 66 CE the Jews were in open revolt against Rome. The Jews minted revolt coins in an attempt to declare their independence. This first “Great” revolt lasted till about 73 CE when the last holdouts in Masada committed suicide. The emperor’s son Titus had the second temple destroyed in 70 CE.
The second revolt, the “bar-kokhba revolt” was led by simon ben kosiba. Coins were once again printed but were often misspelled some were overstrikes. Where they took roman coins and simply struck their new coin over the top of the Roman one. Literally stamping out Rome. In the end this revolt ultimately fails and the roman emperor Hadrian banns circumcision and turns Jerusalem into a full Roman city. He even renames it Aelia Capitolina, and builds a temple to Jupiter there. The Jews are banned from the city completely.
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