More restive. Jews in Roman Judea had a distinct nationalistic-religious identity that had resisted hellenisation in the wake of Alexander's conquests of the near East and not adopted the socio-cultural patterns of Hellenistic city-states. The experience of the Exile was interpreted in theological terms that refined and 'purified' Judaism as a commitedly monotheistic religion that, unlike Graeco-Roman polytheism, integrated philosophy and cultic activity in a way that G-R polytheism never did. These factors led to considerable ongoing tension between Jews and the Roman Empire.

While each of the three revolts can be analysed and interrogated for their particular causes, these are key factors that contributed to ongoing tension between Romans and Jews. Unlike other conquered areas where relatively common understandings of religious practice as open-ended, having little to do with nationalist aspirations, and compatibility between Roman rule and localised self-determinance enabled peaceable rule, Jews really did 'stick out' in terms of the Roman empire, and that relationship moved from relative tolerance to outright conflict (in both directions).