During the Vespasian War they decreed against bridegrooms' crowns and against the Eros. During the Titus War they decreed against brides' crowns and that a person should not teach his son Greek. During the latest war they decreed that a bride should not go forth into town in a sedan chair; but our rabbis have permitted a bride to go forth into town in a sedan chair.
1:
Our mishnah is concerned with decrees that were enunciated at certain times. These decrees were of the nature of a sumptuary law: that is to say that their intention was to reduce costly and unnecessary finery at a time of great sorrow, anguish and suffering for the general population.
2:
Many scholars are of the opinion that some of the previous mishnah (the statement attributed to Rabbi Shim'on ben-El'azar), some of our present mishnah, and all of the next mishnah are later additions to the original text of Tractate Sotah. Indeed, in one surviving manuscript the statement just referred to in mishnah 13 is added into the margin and is not included in the text.
3:
Our present mishnah refers to three wars that took place during the period from 65 CE to 135 CE, a period of seventy years. The first war is called the War of Vespasian. Vespasian was the commander of the Roman forces in Eretz-Israel at the outbreak of the Great Jewish War (as the Romans – or at least Josephus – called it). This war broke out in the year 66 CE, and Vespasian was responsible for rallying his troops after initial setbacks, bringing in the crack Tenth Legion from Alexandria to enlarge his army, and conquering and subduing the Galilee, the northern part of the country. In the year 68 CE the unlamented Roman emperor, Nero, died at his own hand because the Senate and the troops had had enough of him. He was succeeded by Galba but after a few months he too met a similar end. Then came one Otho, who managed to rule for only 95 days. He was succeeded by Vitellius who also managed to stay in office but for a few weeks; he was arrested and executed by the military.
4:
The year 68 CE was known in Rome as the year of three emperors (though actually it was five who occupied the imperial throne during the year 68 CE: Nero was succeeded by Galba; then there was Otho, then Vitellius. When the news of the political mess that was Rome at that time reached the troops in Eretz-Israel they were outraged that such things could be going on while they were fighting a very difficult war against the Jews. They decided to make their commander, Vespasian, emperor and he gladly left Eretz-Israel in order to make good his claim to the imperial throne in Rome. He succeeded in founding the Flavian dynasty and reigned for a decade, dying at the age of 69 and leaving his powers to his son, Titus. Titus died at a comparatively young age; he was 42 years old when he died in the year 81 CE.
5:
The 'War of Vespasian', as it is called in our present mishnah, was brought to a close by Vespasian's son, Titus. It was he who finally captured Jerusalem in the summer of the year 70 and gave the order for the Bet Mikdash to be set on fire (though Josephus tries to exculpate him from this act of unprecedented vandalism). However, as far as I am aware, nowhere else in rabbinic literature is the Jewish War divided into two parts – when the Romans troops were commanded by Vespasian and when they were commanded by Titus: elsewhere is is all one war.
6:
Several manuscripts of our present mishnah have a different reading: instead of 'the War of Titus' they have the reading 'the War of Quietus'. This makes much better sense. The first revolt against the Romans took place from 66-70 CE, as we have seen. The second revolt, led by Shim'on bar-Kokhba, lasted from 132-135 CE. However, another Jewish uprising took place during the years 115-117 CE; the fighting was mainly in the diaspora in the Roman provinces at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. It is this war that is called the "War of Quietus." The Roman general Quietus was commander of the Moorish cavalry in the Roman army that subdued the Jewish revolt in Mesopotamia. As reward for his success, Trajan appointed Quietus as governor of Eretz-Israel in 117 CE. In all probability, therefore, it is the successful campaign of Quietus to put down the disturbances among diaspora Jewry to which our mishnah refers.
7:
'The last war' mentioned in our mishnah refers without doubt to the Bar-Kokhba revolt which broke out in the year 132 CE. Here, again, initial Jewish successes were turned into utter defeat in the year 135 CE. The emperor Hadrian, realizing that Judea must be put down 'once and for all' summoned his best officer to command the troops. Thus Sextus Julius Severus was summoned from his task of preventing Scottish (Pict) infiltration into England. From the rainy Scottish lowlands he proceeded to sunny Eretz-Israel where he inflicted ignominious defeat on Bar-Kokhba and his men.
8:
It was the custom to decorate bridegrooms with a special kind of crown; possibly these were laurel wreaths and possibly they were metal jewelry. Modern scholars connect the word 'Eros' with the Greek god of love and suggest that in our present context it refers to a love-feast, a wedding banquet. However, in the Gemara [Sotah 48b] it is associated with a musical instrument – probably some kind of tambourine.
To be continued.
