Cyrene Revolt of the Kitos War
About
In 115-116 CE Cyrene's Jewish community rose against Rome under a leader named Lukuas, tearing down the temples of Apollo, Artemis, Hecate, Demeter, Isis, and Pluto. Cassius Dio put the death toll at 220,000 non-Jewish residents of the city and region. Quintus Marcius Turbo, sent by Trajan, crushed the revolt through 117 CE, leaving Cyrene a burned, half-empty city. Hadrian later funded its rebuilding with confiscated rebel property.
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.
In ancient writing
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.32.1-3
States that 220,000 people were killed in Cyrene during the revolt, describing atrocities committed by the rebels.
Sources
Nearby
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 →