Hadrian (AD 117–138) succeeded Trajan not as a conqueror but as a reformer. He traveled widely, reorganized law and military, and adorned the empire with monuments. Yet his vision of a unified Greco-Roman order brought him into conflict with the Jews.
Dio Cassius (c. AD 211–230) remembered him as tireless:
“He was laborious and vigilant, inasmuch as he neglected nothing, and often prevented many things from going wrong by being on the spot, and he would not accept excuses for any neglect of duty.”
— Roman History 69.6 (Loeb)
But Hadrian’s measures in Judea—especially banning circumcision, renaming Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, and building a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount—ignited a war that would devastate the Jewish nation.
The Provocation: Circumcision and Aelia Capitolina
Dio Cassius records:
“At Jerusalem he founded a city in place of the one which had been razed to the ground, naming it Aelia Capitolina, and on the site of the temple of the god he raised a new temple to Jupiter. This brought on a war of no slight importance nor of brief duration. For the Jews deemed it intolerable that foreign races should be settled in their city and foreign religious rites planted there.”
— Roman History 69.12.1–2 (Loeb)
He adds:
“At this time the Jews began war because they were forbidden to mutilate their genitals. For Hadrian ordered them to desist from this practice, and thus attempted to abolish their national customs.”
— Roman History 69.12 (Loeb)
While Hadrian was still nearby, the Jews prepared in secret:
“They did not dare to fight in the open, but they occupied advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, so that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet together under ground unseen; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light.”
— Roman History 69.12.3 (Loeb)
The Bar Kokhba Revolt (AD 132–135)
Once Hadrian departed, open revolt broke out under Simon bar Kosiba (Bar Kokhba), hailed by Rabbi Akiva as Messiah.
“Soon, however, all Judaea was in a ferment, and the Jews everywhere were showing signs of disturbance, gathering together, and giving evidence of great hostility to the Romans, partly by secret and partly by overt acts.”
— Roman History 69.13.1 (Loeb)
Rome responded with overwhelming force.
“Fifty of their most important outposts and nine hundred and eighty-five of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. Five hundred and eighty thousand men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate.”
— Roman History 69.14 (Loeb, Xiphilinus epitome)
Bethar: The Last Fortress of Bar Kokhba
Bethar (Betar) was the final stronghold of the revolt. Located about six miles southwest of Jerusalem, it sat high on a ridge above the Valley of Sorek.
- Strategic Position: Its steep hills made it naturally defensible, and Jewish forces fortified it heavily.
- Headquarters: Bar Kokhba is said to have commanded from Bethar in the final stage.
- The Siege: Roman forces encircled the city. Archaeological surveys have found burn layers, ballista stones, and siege trenches.
- Symbolism: Rabbinic tradition later remembered Bethar as falling on the 9th of Av, the same date both the First and Second Temples were destroyed.
Bethar became the symbol of the revolt’s futility—the last fortress where Jewish resistance was extinguished.
Rabbinic Memory of Bethar
The Jerusalem Talmud (Ta’anit 4:5–6) preserves the devastation:
“The blood flowed until horses were submerged in it up to their nostrils… And the slain of Bethar were not permitted burial until a later emperor gave permission.”
This is not the voice of a Roman chronicler but the lament of a people for whom even death did not bring rest. Bethar was remembered not merely as a defeat, but as a massacre.
Archaeology of Catastrophe
- Bethar: burn layers, Roman siege trenches, and ballista stones confirm the destruction.
- Caves of Refuge: in Nahal Hever and the Cave of Letters, archaeologists found skeletons, sandals, knives, jars of food, and scrolls.
- Babatha Archive: 35 legal documents of a Jewish widow, sealed in leather and buried with her remains. Her last dated record is from August 132 CE—the very month the revolt broke out. After that, silence.
- Letters of Bar Kokhba: papyrus and wooden tablets signed “Shim‘on ben Kosiba, Prince of Israel,” ordering supplies, threatening deserters, and requesting palm branches for Sukkot.
This was a war remembered in blood, texts, and ash.
Hadrian’s Rescript on Christians
While crushing the Jews, Hadrian issued a rescript on Christians. Preserved by Eusebius:
“If, therefore, the provincials can sustain by evidence their charges against the Christians, let them prosecute the cases, but not by mere clamour and outcry. For it is much more just, if anyone desires to make accusations, that you yourself should pass judgment.”
— Ecclesiastical History 4.9 (Loeb)
It offered no protection against charges of impiety—but it restrained mob violence.
Christian Voices in Hadrian’s Reign
This same period saw a burst of Christian literature. These writings are the first direct responses to imperial scrutiny.
Quadratus of Athens (c. 125)
Eusebius introduces him:
“After Trajan had reigned for nineteen years, Aelius Hadrian became his successor in the empire. To him Quadratus addressed a discourse, as an apology for our religion, because certain wicked men were attempting to trouble our people.”
— Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4.3.1 (Loeb)
Quadratus’ surviving words:
“But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were genuine: those who were healed, those who were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also present continually; not only while the Saviour was living, but also for a considerable time after His departure; and indeed some of them have survived even to our own time.”
— Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4.3.2 (Loeb)
Why this claim is plausible:
- Quadratus was writing c. AD 125, less than 100 years after Jesus’ ministry (c. AD 30).
- People who had been children or teenagers when healed by Jesus could still be alive in their 80s or 90s. Rare, but possible in antiquity (Polycarp, for example, lived to 86).
- More importantly, many were still alive who had personally known eyewitnesses — family, neighbors, or members of the earliest churches.
Commentary:
Quadratus is not arguing that Christianity is ancient like Judaism. He is arguing that it is true because it is still within memory: the miracles of Jesus left people alive long enough for their authenticity to be checked. His defense to Hadrian is: Christianity is not myth or invention — it happened in history, and its effects are still visible in living witnesses.
Aristides of Athens (c. 125–140)
Dedication:
“To the Emperor Caesar Titus Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, from Marcianus Aristides, a philosopher of Athens.
I, O King, by the inspiration of God, have come to this conclusion, that the universe and all that is in it is moved by the power of another… Wherefore I… have no wish to worship any other than God, the living and true, and I have searched carefully into all the races of men and tested them, and this is what I have found.”
— Aristides, Apology 1 (Loeb Syriac)
Survey of humanity (chs. II–XIV):
- Barbarians: idol worshippers.
- Greeks: immoral gods.
- Egyptians: animal worship.
- Jews: monotheists, but clinging to angels, sabbaths, and rituals.
Christians (full text, chs. XV–XVI):
XV.
“But the Christians, O King, reckon the beginning of their religion from Jesus Christ, who is named the Son of God most High; and it is said that God came down from heaven, and from a Hebrew virgin took and clad Himself with flesh; and that the Son of God lived in a daughter of man. This is taught in the gospel, as it is called, which a little while ago was preached among them; and you also, if you will read therein, may perceive the power which belongs to it.
This Jesus, then, was born of the race of the Hebrews; and He had twelve disciples in order that a certain dispensation of His might be fulfilled. He was pierced by the Jews, and He died and was buried; and they say that after three days He rose and ascended to heaven.
Thereupon these twelve disciples went forth into the known parts of the world, and taught concerning His greatness with all humility and sobriety. And those then who still observe the righteousness which was enjoined by their preaching are called Christians.
And these are they who more than all the nations of the earth have found the truth. For they acknowledge God, the Creator and Maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit; and besides Him they worship no other God. They have the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself graven upon their hearts; and they keep them, looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
They do not commit adultery or fornication; they do not bear false witness; they do not covet what belongs to others; they honor father and mother; they do good to those who are their neighbors. And they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols in the likeness of man. Whatever they would not wish others to do to them, they do not practice themselves. They do not eat of the food offered to idols, for they are pure. They comfort their oppressors and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies. Their women are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest. Their men abstain from all unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in another world.”XVI.
“They love one another. They do not turn away a widow, and they rescue the orphan. He who has gives ungrudgingly to him who has not. If they see a stranger, they take him under their roof, and they rejoice over him as over a real brother. If any one among them is poor and needy, and they have no spare food, they fast two or three days, that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.
They observe scrupulously the commandments of their Messiah; they live honestly and soberly, as the Lord their God ordered them. They give thanks to Him every hour, for all meat and drink, and other blessings.
And if any righteous man among them passes away, they rejoice and thank God, and escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another.
And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if it chance to die in childhood, they praise God mightily, as for one who has passed through the world without sins.
But if any one of them be a man of wealth, and he sees that one of their number is in want, he provides for the needy without boasting. And if they see a stranger, they take him under their roof, and they rejoice over him as over a brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the Spirit and in God.
And whenever one of their poor passes away from the world, each of them, according to his ability, gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial.
Such is the law of the Christians, O King, and such is their manner of life.”
— Aristides, Apology 15–16 (Loeb Syriac text)
Commentary:
Notice how Aristides even tells Hadrian: “and you also, if you will read [the Gospel], may perceive the power which belongs to it.” Aristides assumes the emperor could obtain and read a Christian Gospel. This shows both the confidence of Christians in their Scriptures and the public availability of the Gospel writings by Hadrian’s reign.
Epistle of Barnabas (c. 120–130)
On the covenant:
“Take heed to yourselves, and be not like some, heaping up your sins and saying that the covenant is both theirs and ours. It is ours: but in this way did they finally lose it, after Moses had already received it.”
— Barnabas 4.6–7 (Loeb)
On circumcision:
“He has abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, free from the yoke of constraint, might have its own offering not made by human hands… So we are they whom he brought into the new law… no longer bound by circumcision.”
— Barnabas 9.4–7 (Loeb)
On the temple:
“Now we say that their wretched men set their hope on the building, as though it were the house of God, and not on their God who created them. But learn how the Lord speaks, abolishing it: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What manner of house will you build for me? says the Lord.’”
— Barnabas 16.1–2 (Loeb)
Commentary:
- Written at the very moment Hadrian was making Jerusalem into Aelia Capitolina.
- The letter insists: the true temple is the people of God, not a building or land.
- Barnabas draws a sharp break with Judaism — aligning with Hadrian’s years when Jewish identity itself was outlawed.
2 Clement (c. 120–140)
On confession and deeds:
“Let us not think it enough to call him Lord; for that will not save us. Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that works righteousness. So then, brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge him by our works, by loving one another, by abstaining from slander and envy, by being self-controlled, compassionate, good.”
— 2 Clement 4.2–5 (Loeb)
On perseverance:
“If we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if not, nothing will deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey his commandments. The scripture says: If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? So then, brothers and sisters, let us struggle, knowing that the contest is near and that many things are at stake.”
— 2 Clement 5.4–6 (Loeb)
On endurance in suffering:
“Blessed are they that obey these commands, though they be for a short season afflicted in the world; they shall be gathered into the immortal fruit of the resurrection.”
— 2 Clement 19.3 (Loeb)
Commentary:
- 2 Clement reflects the atmosphere of Hadrian’s reign: Christians under scrutiny, exhorted to prove their faith by life, not just words.
- Where Aristides says to Hadrian, “See how we live,” 2 Clement says to the church, “Live so that the world sees.”
Conclusion: Two Stories
Hadrian tried to erase the Jews: banning circumcision, renaming their land, and slaughtering them by the hundreds of thousands.
Christians, already distinct, were forced out of Jerusalem along with the Jews—but the movement itself was not tied to land or temple.
The earliest imperial-facing defenses came in Hadrian’s reign: Quadratus and Aristides, written directly to emperors. Alongside them, Barnabas and 2 Clement spoke to Christian communities in the same decades, sharpening identity and urging moral seriousness.
And the core claim running through them is not philosophical speculation but a simple one: this faith works.
It changes lives.
It makes a people who fast to feed the poor, who rejoice in death, who call strangers their brothers, who endure under trial.
Rome buried cities. But the church carried forward a witness of lives transformed.
Living the Bible 