Repression after the Great Revolt

The fall of Jerusalem scattered the last fighters of the revolt toward Egypt and Cyrenaica. In Alexandria, refugee sicarii attempted to draw the community into their cause; the Jewish notables of the city handed them over to the Romans themselves, who executed them after subjecting them to torture to make them acknowledge Caesar as master — which none accepted, not even the youngest, writes Josèphe.

Vespasian then ordered the closure of the temple of Onias, at Leontopolis in the nome of Heliopolis, the only Jewish sacrificial sanctuary built outside Jerusalem: it had functioned for more than two centuries. The governor Lupus stripped it bare; his successor Paulinus forbade access to it.

In Cyrene, a weaver named Jonathan led common people into the desert, promising them signs; the governor Catullus had him pursued, then used his denunciations to strike the wealthiest Jews of the province and confiscate their property. Josèphe, whom he accused in turn, had to justify himself before Vespasian.