The Causes of The First Jewish Revolt

There are many causes of the First Jewish Revolt or also known as the Jewish War of 66-70AD/CE. I am going cover the growing philosophies and rebellious movements that occured between the fall of the Hasmonean Dynasty all the way up to the actual beginning of the war. These philosophies caused many small revolts throughout the region of Judea that were put down easily by the Roman government, but the real effects that these events would have were in the growing ideaology that they produced in the minds of young Jewish men. Jewish leaders such as Judas the son of Sepphoraeus, Matthias the son of Margalus, Judas the Galilean and his cohert Saduc were some examples of men who flamed the rebellious attitude. The ideas of liberty, the continuing idea of a People chosen and ruled by God, the teaching of a coming messiah, different interpretations of the law (Torah), and the idea of fighting and dying for the law of God (martydom). I will explore each of these areas and show how the events that take place because of the promotion of these different ideas would lead to an inevitable environment of rebellion and war.
I will also cover events that were instigated by the Roman Empire and its leadership in comparison with these growing Jewish philosophies. Roman appointed leaders and such as Nero, Felix, Gessius Florus, and Albinus are a few examples of leaders that abused their powers and lead to a heightened rebellious attitude of the Jewish people. I will discuss how these men spit in the face of Jewish religous practices, desecrated the Jewish synagoges and the Temple, assassinated High Priest, heavily taxed the Jews, and persecuted anyone who resisted them. These acts combined with the growing attitude of the Jewish people led to an inevitable clash which would be the downfall of the Jewish Capitol and its inhabitants.