or rather Barcochab, a Jewish impostor, whose real name was Akiba; but he took that of Barcochab, which signifies the Son of a Star; in allusion to the prophecy of Balaam, "There shall a star arise out of Jacob." He proclaimed himself the Messiah; and talking of nothing but wars, victories, and triumphs, made his countrymen rise against the Romans, by which means he was the author of innumerable disorders; he ravaged many places, took a great number of fortresses, and massacred an infinite multitude of people, particularly the Christians. The emperor sent troops to Rufus, governor of Judea, to suppress the sedition. Rufus in obedience, exercised a thousand cruelties, but could not finish his attempt. The emperor was therefore obliged to send Julius Severus, the greatest general of that time; who attained his end without a direct battle: he fell on them separately; cut off their provisions; and at last the whole contest was reduced to the siege of Bitter, in the 18th year of Hadrian. The impostor perished there. This war cost the Romans a great deal of blood.