Cestius Gallus

Gaius Cestius Gallus (d. 67 AD) was the son of a consul in ancient Rome and himself a suffect consul in 42.

He was legate of Syria from 63 or 65. He marched into Judea in 66 in an attempt to restore calm at the outset of the Great Jewish Revolt. He succeeded in conquering Beit She'arim "the new city" also called Bezetha, in the Jezreel Valley, seat of the Great Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme religious court) at the time, but was unable to take The Temple Mount.^[1]

During his withdrawal to the coast his army was ambushed near Beth Horon, and only succeeded in making good his escape to Antioch by sacrificing the greater part of his army and a large amount of war materiel.^[1]

Soon after his return Gallus died (before the spring of 67), and was succeeded in the governorship by Licinius Mucianus. Emperor Nero appointed General Vespasian, the future Emperor, instead to crush the rebellion.

See also

• Cestia (gens)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rome and Jerusalem; The Clash of Ancient Civilizations Martin Goodman p 14.

• Tacitus, Hist. v. 10, 13
• Suetonius, Vespasian, 4
• Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 14-20
• Emil Schürer, History of the Jewish People, 1st edn. div. i. vol. ii. p. 212 (Eng. tr., 1890); vol. 1, pp. 487f of Vermes and Millar's 1973 re-edition.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

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Name	Gallus, Cestius
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