← Back to the front page

Turncoat Generals – Commanders From History Who Switched Sides

Khalid Elhassan April 3, 2025 17 min

Turncoat - Benedict Arnold — Benedict Arnold. Smithsonian Magazine

16. The Great Jewish Revolt’s Greatest Turncoat

Turncoat - A first century AD bust, thought to be a Romanized Josephus — A first century AD bust, thought to be a Romanized Josephus. Wikimedia

While Vespasian headed to Rome, Josephus joined the new emperor’s son, Titus, in besieging Jerusalem and finishing off the revolt. After a horrific siege, the city fell in 70 AD. Titus ordered Jerusalem’s complete destruction, and tens of thousands of prisoners were sold off as slaves or forced to fight to death in games for Titus’ amusement and to celebrate his victory. Titus then took Josephus back with him to Rome, where he held a triumphal parade that featured captive rebel leaders chained to models of their towns on floats that paraded down Rome’s streets, before they were executed. Josephus joined Vespasian’s household, spent the remainder of his life writing, and left behind a valuable history of the Great Jewish Revolt.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.