The Romans kept a wary eye on Judea following the end of the Jewish Revolt in 70 A.D. After the Temples destruction, the Council of Yavne served as spiritual guides for the Jewish Diaspora. Tensions between Rome and Judea continued leading to the Kitos War in 115. Fifteen years later, Hadrian visited Judea and allegedly promised to rebuild the Temple.
Hadrian never rebuilt the Temple and probably never promised to do so. However, he did authorize other building projects in the area. The Jews took offense when the Romans named the new project ploughing up the Temple. Later, Hadrian banned circumcision considering it barbaric. The offended Jews had enough and revolted.
The rebels studied and learned from the mistakes made during the First Jewish Revolt. Rabbis floated the possibility that the messiah arrived in the form of Simon bar Kokhba. Bar Kokhba led a revolution while playing into the messiah prophesies. Jews believed that the messiah would be a military leader in the Spartacan tradition as opposed to someone preaching nonviolence and love.
The revolt shocked Rome. They never saw it coming. In response, Hadrian sent a force substantially larger than the one that put down the First Jewish Revolt. This conflict proved significantly bloodier than the earlier war. Both sides admit to high casualty rates and describe atrocities bathed in blood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GO0gAfr_n0
Jewish chroniclers speak of Roman soldiers killing until even the horses were submerged in blood. Roman historians provide high casualty rates exceeding 500,000. During this period, body counts impressed the public, so ancient leaders often exaggerated their kills. Nonetheless, both sides suffered, with the Jews being especially hard hit.
The revolt lasted two years before Rome exterminated it. Afterward, Hadrian attempted to purge Judea of Jews. He banned Jewish law and the Hebrew Calendar. The emperor built a Temple of Jupiter on the old Temple site. He even renamed Judea and banished Jews from Jerusalem. Many were sold into slavery. Meanwhile, the Romans executed ten rebel leaders including Bar Kokhba.
Despite the persecution, Judaism survived. Rome could not destroy all the synagogues or Torahs in the world. Jews spread out around the region taking their traditions along. Scribes began writing the Talmud after the war finally finishing it two centuries later. Many blamed Bar Kokhba for the disaster and his name became associated with false messiahs. The idea of a messiah itself became more abstract and less tangible to the people.
The Second Jewish Revolt destroyed Judaism in Judea. The Bar Kokhba-led revolt led to massive bloodshed by both sides and ended with the Jewish Diaspora. Unlike the first revolt, Rome attempted to extinguish Judaism altogether. They failed and the religion continued for 2000 years while the empire fell three centuries later.
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-second-roman-jewish-war-132-136-a-d
