Samaritan revolts

Samaritan revolts

Diocese of the Orient at the Byzantine period, where Samaritans largely inhabited Palaestina Prima (Samaria).
Date484–572 (88 years)
Location
Result Byzantine Empire victory
Territorial
changes
Byzantine Empire restores control of Samaria; it remains a part of Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima
Belligerents

Byzantine Empire

Commanders and leaders
  • Asclepiades and Rheges (484 revolt)
  • Governor Procopius (495 revolt)
  • Emperor Justinian I (ben Sabar revolt, 529–531)
  • Stephanus and Amantius (556 and 572 revolts)
Unknown leader (484 revolt)
  • Justa (Justa revolt, 495)
  • Julianus ben Sabar Executed (ben Sabar revolt, 529–531)
  • Samaritan and Jewish leadership (556 and 572 revolts)
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.

  1. ^ Alan David Crown, The Samaritans, Mohr Siebeck, 1989, ISBN 3-16-145237-2, pp. 75–76.