>>>WHY did the Romans have it in for the Jews? Was it because they were mono-theists?<<<
The short version of the answer is that the Romans insisted on displaying the bust of the emperor in public and proclaiming him to be one of the gods, to which the Jews answered, “No thanks, we already have one.”
It’s also good to keep in mind that Jews made up about 10 percent of the Roman population, so they were able to make a fair amount of noise when they were displeased.
There were several Judean wars, the Romans finally had enough, and they nuked the place, first century style, sending my ancestors to Russia.
Interestingly enough, I married a woman who looks just like the girls on the frescos in the Roman villas - almond eyes, curled hair - whose ancestors had been in Italy for thousands of years. Strange how things work out.
Actually, there were 5 major revolts, the last one in 617CE agains the Eastern Roman Empire.