Excidium Salaminis
About
Jewish rebels under a leader named Artemion rose up during the Kitos War and razed Cyprus's provincial capital, with the historian Cassius Dio claiming a staggering 240,000 Greek and Roman dead on the island. Roman forces eventually crushed the uprising and rebuilt the city. Afterward Rome barred Jews from Cyprus entirely, even shipwreck survivors washed ashore, on penalty of death. It stands as the most destructive single episode of the empire-wide Jewish diaspora revolt of 115-117 CE.
What happened here
A Roman army fights the way it camps: in lines, by drill, on ground chosen if possible. The legions form up in cohorts with gaps that let ranks rotate, throw a volley of heavy javelins at close range, and then close with the short sword, pushing behind the shield. Auxiliaries hold the flanks and do most of the cavalry work and most of the skirmishing. Battles are short and decided by whether one line breaks, and the killing happens in the pursuit rather than the fighting. The camp is dug and palisaded every night regardless. Afterwards the dead are stripped and the field is looted for days; the ground is remembered locally long after the campaign is a paragraph in someone's history.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →