The Rebels Against Rome: The Story of the Martyrs of Lod Who Died for the Sanctification of Hashem

The Diaspora Rebellion: What Led to the Forgotten Jewish Revolt in History?

In the year 80 CE, Josephus Flavius wrote his book "The Wars of the Jews with the Romans." His book documents 180 years of Jewish-Roman relations and their wars. He did not imagine that about thirty years after his death, another terrible war would break out between the Jews and the Romans, and certainly not that fifteen years later there would be another war, more terrible than all its predecessors.

The flag of the rebellion was raised in the city of Cyrene in Libya, near today's Benghazi, where there was a relatively small Roman garrison. The Jews united under a commander named Andreas, eliminated the Roman garrison, and also massacred the Roman population. According to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, the Jews killed two hundred and twenty thousand Romans, some of whom were tortured to death. Dio Cassius was an anti-Semite, and his descriptions are not necessarily accurate. What is clear is that the rebellion started with great force in Cyrene.

The Jews of the Land of Israel heard that there was a chance to get rid of the Roman yoke, and many joined the rebellion. The sages of Israel did not support the rebellion, just as they did not support the previous one. They did not want to endanger the little that remained, the sages of the Torah, and the masses of the people. However, it was difficult to prevent those suffering under Roman rule from any manifestation of uprising, and demand from them to continue to be oppressed, robbed, and beaten under the Roman procurators.

The Roman procurator in the land, Lucius Quietus, was an African prince who joined the service of the Romans. He was a massive and mighty man, who from afar looked like a gorilla. No one could stand before his anger. Ten years earlier, as a commander in the service of the emperor, he had massacred the Jews of Babylon. Now he roamed the land like a madman, executing people over any triviality. This massacre was called by our sages the "Battles of Kitus," and seeing this, they decreed not to adorn the brides' crowns with the special and traditional ornament they were accustomed to for generations, as a sign of mourning for the event.

The rebels, who wanted to take revenge on that madman, succeeded in reaching his daughter, the African princess, and executed her. Her body was thrown on the main road between Jerusalem and Lod. Until now, Quietus had been raging, but now he went completely mad. He declared that if the murderers were not handed over, he would destroy all the Jews of the Lod district. The Jews of Lod did not know at all who the murderers were, and therefore could not, even if they wanted to, respond to his request. They were beside themselves. A regiment of soldiers surrounded the city of Lod and its suburbs, waiting for the signal to carry out the execution.

At that time, there lived in the city two great and distinguished wealthy men, Pappus and Lulianus from Alexandria. They decided to sanctify Hashem and save all the city's inhabitants, went out on their own initiative to the legions, and declared: We killed the princess. It was clear to all that they did not really kill her, but that they wanted to sacrifice themselves for the people of Israel. They were immediately put under guard, and the legions dispersed from the city of Lod. Quietus set for the next day the public trial in which he would publicly crucify the "murderers," in the amphitheater of Emmaus. But he did not live to see the next day's sun. On that day, two messengers arrived urgently from Rome. The emperor heard that Quietus was planning to rebel against him, and he was summoned to trial. He was put in chains and taken to Rome, and in the end, he was executed.

And Pappus and Lulianus? They remained in the Roman prison. It was clear that they did not kill the daughter of the deposed procurator, and her matter was probably not particularly important to the next procurator. At some point, the Romans offered them a deal: drink together with us as part of a feast, thus showing us that you are part of our culture, and we will release you. Pappus and Lulianus, who had already accepted their death for the sanctification of Hashem, replied: We will not drink with you, we do not agree with your culture. The Romans reacted with anger and executed them. This happened on the 12th of Adar, and this day is mentioned in Megillat Taanit as a memorial day for the death of the martyrs who won the name "Martyrs of Lod."

Pappus and Lulianus were not great Torah scholars, but they were of high spiritual stature. In those days, there was a severe illness for the son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, and he reached a state of clinical death. His soul ascended to the heavens, and he was able to see things that mortals do not have access to. The greater the person who experiences this phenomenon, the more real the things he perceives, and among the things he saw there, says the Gemara in Tractate Bava Batra: "'No creature can stand in the company of the martyrs of Lod.'" Like the Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom, like Rabbi Akiva and his companions, they reached a supreme eternal level in the world to come.