Baidarka

Who was the Moshiach of the first Jewish revolt against Rome? We know that Bar-Kochbar was recognized as the Moshiach by no less then Rabbi Akiva at the time of the second revolt, but no one is named as the Messiah by any historian (that I know of) of the first revolt.
It seems curious that the small Jewish nation could have marshaled enough of a well organized fight to kick out the Roman forces even temporarily with out a charismatic leader with royal pretensions especially at a time when the apocalyptic myth seemed to be the motivating force behind Jewish revolutionary ideas.
Josephus could have suppressed the info as too inflammatory for his Roman keepers or later Church copyists could have suppressed the idea of any competing messiahs from his text.
Jewish legends were invented to denigrate Bar Kochbar for the failure of his revolt.
Sabbatai Sevi the failed Moshiah whose movement captured the Jewish imagination in the Middle Ages has almost been erased from Jewish memory.
My guess is that there was a charismatic moshiach who led the first revolt and that he has been erased from historic memory.
I think that this may be important for understanding the genesis of the Christian myth and the development of Rabbinic Judaism.

capnkirk

Here is a chronological listing of all the (known and recognized) Jewish Messiahs (except Jesus of Nazareth) of the era of the Roman occupation:

Judas of Galilee led a Jewish uprising against Rome in 6 CE. Mentioned in Acts 5:37 and Josephus (Wars, 2:118 -rebel patriarch) He tried to deliver the Jewish people out of harsh Roman rule, and he and his followers called Judas of Galilee the Savior, the Messiah whom they needed so badly. He died on the cross.

Theudas considered himself a prophet like Moses and a would-be Messiah. He is mentioned in Acts 5:36 and Josephus ( Antiquities, 20:97) In the year 44 CE, his rebel army was defeated by Rome and he too died on the cross.

Benjamin the Egyptian appeared mysteriously between the year 55-60 CE as a Messiah-warrior. He is mentioned in Acts 21 (An Unnamed Egyptian Jew) and in Josephus (War 2.261263 Ant. 20.171.) He sparked once more the fire of revolt against Rome and proclaimed himself the Messiah –“the anointed of the Lord”. He too was crucified and died on the Cross.

Menachem, the grandson of Judas the Galilean appeared in the year 67 CE when another war with Rome broke out. He was a fiery zealot leader who proclaimed himself the “Messiah”, and died on the cross.

Simeon Bar Kochba was still another would-be Messiah. By this time, it seems that the classic pattern for being the Messiah had become that he had to be a prophet-warrior. Simeon led the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome in 132 CE. That too failed and he was crucified like the rest of the so-called Messiahs.

rlogan

Hey capnkirk.

I'm not sure what the complete criteria are for Messiahs. A couple of months ago I was cruising through Josephus and saw other rebel leaders mentioned too. One named Jesus who was leading fishermen and other "blue collar" types. Seems they killed quite a few romans.

One of them I remember getting captured and being freed under the promise that he would behave himself in the future.

Anyway, quite a few characters seem to have led bands of one kind or another in a military capacity.

Jesus is a bit of an odd duck in that he had no such acclaim.

capnkirk

Jesus, like Theudas, expected a miracle (with the Mount of Olives as its epicenter) from god to 'defeat' the Romans, thus clearing the way for the establishment of the "kingdom of god" (a phrase used several times in the OT to describe the Kingdom of Israel), and his ascention to its throne.

Perhaps the reason Jesus is so conspicuously absent from the lists is because the lists were made by Xtains (who had a vested interest in spreading the belief that he was something else).