Rabbi Akiva

Akiva ben Joseph, also known as Rabbi Akiva, was a leading Jewish scholar and sage and a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and to Midrash Halakha. He is referred to in Tosafot as Rosh la-Hakhamim. He was executed by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. He has also been described as a philosopher.