An Atheist's Guide to the Bible

The Romans in Palestine

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Chronology

When Pompey was campaigning in the East from 67 BCE, his main targets were the Kings of Pontus and the Parthian Empire. However, he did not ignore the strategic opportunities to establish buffer states and compliant allies in regions such as Palestine.

In 63 BCE, with complete and probably deliberate disregard for the religious sensitivities involved, he entered the Jerusalem Temple. He even set foot in the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum where by Jewish tradition only the High Priest was allowed, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

Pompey settled the arguments among the Hasmonean dynasty in Jerusalem, giving his backing to Hyrcanus, one of the claimants to the throne. But although Judaea maintained its nominal independence, it was clear from then on where the power lay.

Later, the Romans backed the Idumaean dynasty of Herod the Great and his sons, but from 6 CE the empire took direct control of Judaea. In this year Quirinius, the governor of Syria, took a census of his domain including Judaea - this is alluded to in Luke's Gospel (Lk 2:1) but he mistakenly thought it was a census of the whole Roman world.

The state of Judaea was never easy to govern. The census caused major riots, led by Judah the Galilean. This was neither the first nor the last time that the Judaean population rose against their rulers. The liberation struggle which the Jewish people had carried on against their Greek overlords the Seleucids was continued in its turn into popular resistance to Roman rule.

Continual political turbulence and repeated attempts at rebellion led to a charged atmosphere where many expected the end of the world, to be preceded by their promised saviour or messiah, who would lead the people to deliverance in one last uprising against their oppressors.

The harshly practical Romans were able to crush every such attempt with their superior military might, and were swift to execute any who dared to present themselves as leaders of popular discontent - one such rebel, executed in the usual way by crucifixion, was Jesus of Nazareth.

Ultimately the Roman approach only served to harden opposition among the Jews, who were fighting what they saw not simply as a political struggle but a religious one. The first Roman-Jewish war of 66-70 ended in the destruction of Jerusalem, the complete massacre of the anti-Roman forces and the establishment of a restrictive legal regime governing the Jewish population.

This still did not lead to a complete end to hostilities. There was a further rebellion led by Simon bar Kochba whom many saw as the messiah. His rebellion too was utterly defeated in 135 CE. This time even harsher measures were taken, especially against the city of Jerusalem. A new Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, was founded on the site - including pagan altars where the Temple had once stood. Jews were excluded from the city boundary. From now on, for the Jewish diaspora, there was no longer a connection with a population living in the homeland centred on Jerusalem.

Reference

A.R.C. Leaney, The Jewish and Christian World
Cambridge University Press 1984

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