During his short reign , Emperor Julian ( 361 – 363 ) abolished the special taxes paid by the Jews to the Roman government and also sought to ease the burden of mandatory Jewish financial support of the Jewish patriarchate . He also gave permission for the Jews to rebuild and populate Jerusalem . In one of his most remarkable endeavours , he initiated the restoration of the Jewish Temple which had been demolished in 70 CE . A contingent of thousands of Jews from Persian districts hoping to assist in the construction effort were killed en route by Persian soldiers . The great earthquake together with Julian 's death put an end to Jewish hopes of rebuilding the Third Temple . Had the attempt been successful , it is likely that the re-establishment of the Jewish state with its sacrifices , priests and Sanhedrin or Senate would have occurred
great earthquake
Galilee earthquake of 363
History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel