Matthew J. Adams | Armageddon and the Roman VIth Ferrata Legion

Kipper Lecture Series 2017 Presented by Matthew J. Adams, Director, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem. Armageddon and the Roman VIth Ferrata Legion In the late 1st and early 2nd Centuries CE, dangerous Jewish (and incipient Christian) rebels were causing problems for the Roman Empire in Palestine. Though the First Revolt resulted in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE and in the establishment of a permanent base of the Xth Legion there, these groups continued to harass their overlords. Historical sources indicate that the Roman VIth Ferrata Legion was deployed to Palestine in the early 2nd Century CE to provide support for the Xth, a sure sign that the rebels were acting up again. The VIth Legion established their base somewhere near Megiddo, but its exact location has been a long-standing question in the archaeology of the period. Using historical and geographical sources, aerial photography, and remote sensing, the Jezreel Valley Regional Project searched for p