Simon bar Giora

Simon bar Giora ("son of the convert"), from Gerasa according to Josephus, first stood out in the rout of the Roman governor Cestius Gallus at Beth Horon in 66. He then gathered his own army in the Judean hills, proclaiming freedom for slaves, and took Idumea and Hebron. When the Zealots kidnapped his wife, he terrorized the outskirts of Jerusalem until they released her. In the spring of 69 the high priest Matthias and the people let him into Jerusalem to break John of Giscala's power, and he ruled the Upper City and much of the Lower City with some 10,000 men and 5,000 Idumeans (Josephus, War 4–5).

During Titus's siege in 70 he was the leading commander of the defense. After the city fell he hid in the underground passages with stonecutters, hoping to tunnel out, then emerged in a white tunic and purple cloak on the ruins of the Temple and was captured. He was paraded in the triumph of Vespasian and Titus in Rome in 71 and executed in the Forum as the enemy's chief.