Course of the War

Bar Kokhba used guerrilla tactics, which resulted in initial victories against the Romans, but he succumbed to Roman reinforcements after three years. Rather than taking a stand at fortified strongholds—as in the First Jewish War—Bar Kokhba kept his forces mobile and in offensive stances. The initial phase of the war forced the Roman forces—unprepared for this type of combat—out of their positions to sanctuary in the coastal cities (Gichon, New Insight, 20–21). The combatants used caves as hideouts in the case of sieges, but also as offensive positions. Many of the caves were located in well camouflaged sites near Roman bases, outposts, and communication routes. The layouts of the caves made escape and defense easy in the case of discovery (Gichon, New Insight, 23–27).

Only in the later stages of the war were strongholds fortified with walls and towers built at strategic locations. Archaeological evidence shows hasty patching and rebuilding of hilltop defense positions. It was in this later phase that Bar Kokhba was forced to take up position in the fortified city of Betar (Gichon, New Insight, 30–31, 34). Here, rabbinic accounts say he was killed when the Romans destroyed the city and its occupants (Marks, The Image of Bar Kokhba, 8). The caves were still used near the end of the revolt, but the Romans thwarted the guerrillas by rolling boulders and ashlar stones from destroyed city walls over cave entrances and air vents (Gichon, New Insight, 38–39).