Battle of Beth Horon ( 66 ) The Battle of Beth Horon was a battle fought in 66 CE between the Roman army and Jewish rebels in the First Jewish - Roman War . The Battle of Beth Horon is considered the worst defeat the Romans suffered at the hands of rebels . Background . Roman influence in Judea . Judea came under Roman influence in 63 BCE , when Roman general Pompey arrived in the Levant as part of the Roman campaign against Mithridates VI of Pontus . In 37 BC Rome installed Herod the Great as a client king of Judea , helping him oust the Parthian - backed leader Antigonus II Mattathias . Shortly after Herod ' s death , Judea was partitioned among his sons as tetrarchy , but due to disturbances by 6 CE it came under direct Roman control and with exception of a small autonomous region in the north became a Roman province , ruled by prefects appointed by Rome . Rebellion within Judaea province . In 66 CE , long - standing Greek and Jewish religious tensions took a downward spiral after Jewish worshippers witnessed Greek civilians sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue in Caesarea and complained to the authorities . The Roman garrison did not intervene , leading to the triggering of popular protests against Roman taxation . The protests were ignored by the governor until public attacks in Jerusalem on Roman citizen s and others accused of having Roman sympathies , led the army garrison to intervene . The soldiers were attacked as they moved through the city by an increasing proportion of the Jewish residents ; many troops were killed and the rest evacuated Jerusalem . As news of this action spread , many other towns and Jews joined the rebellion . Fearing the worst , the pro - Roman king Agrippa II and his sister Berenice fled Jerusalem to the Galilee . Intervention of the Syrian Legion . Cestius Gallus , the legate of Syria , marched on Jerusalem with legion XII Fulminata and auxiliary troops , with an aim of crushing the rebels and restoring order . Such had been the standard Roman reaction to uprisings at the time . All available troops were mustered , formed into a column and sent to confront its perceived centre . Ideally , such a show of force would have allowed the Romans to regain the initiative and prevent the rebellion from developing and growing stronger . Gallus conquered Bezetha , in the Jezreel Valley , soon to be the seat of the Great Sanhedrin ( Jewish supreme religious court ) , but was unable to take The Temple Mount ; he now decided to withdraw and wait for reinforcement . The battle . Withdrawing towards the coast from Jerusalem , the Romans were closely pursued by rebel scouts . As they neared the pass of Beth Horon , they were ambushed and came under attack from massed missile fire . They were then suddenly rushed by a large force of rebel Judean infantry . The Romans could not get into formation within the narrow confines of the pass and lost cohesion under the fierce assault . The equivalent of an entire legion was destroyed , with 6 , 000 troops killed , many wounded and the rest fleeing in disarray . Gallus succeeded in escaping with a fraction of his troops to Antioch by sacrificing the greater part of his army and a large amount of materiel . After the battle , the Jewish zealots went through the Roman dead stripping them of their armor , helmets , equipment , and weapons . It was one of the worst defeats suffered by regular Roman troops against a rebelling province in history , encouraging many more volunteers and towns in Judea to throw their lot in with the rebels . A full - scale war was then inevitable . Aftermath . Soon after his return , Gallus died ( before the spring of 67 CE ) , and was succeeded in the governorship by Licinius Mucianus . The shock of the defeat convinced the Romans of the need to fully commit to crushing the rebellion regardless of the effort it would require . Emperor Nero and the senate then appointed General Vespasian , the future Emperor , to bring the Roman army to Judea and crush the rebellion with a force of four Legions .