Samaritan revolts | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Diocese of the Orient at the Byzantine period, where Samaritans largely inhabited Palaestina Prima (Samaria). | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Belligerents | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Unknown leader (484 revolt)
| ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
ben Sabar revolt: Severe casualties |
ben Sabar revolt: 20,000–100,000 killed 556–572 revolt: 100,000–120,000 killed[1] |
The Samaritan revolts (c. 484–573) were a series of insurrections in Palaestina Prima province, launched by the Samaritans against the Byzantine Empire. The revolts were marked by great violence on both sides, and their brutal suppression at the hands of the Byzantines and their Ghassanid allies severely reduced the Samaritan population. The events irreversibly shifted the demographics of the region, making the Christians the only dominant group in the Palaestina Prima province for many decades onward.