Rome’s involvement in the religious and political processes of Palestine had significantly altered Jewish reality.

In 161 BCE, the Palestinian Jews first experienced Roman influence as beneficial. On several occasions, the Maccabees contracted and renewed an alliance with the Romans as a protection against hostile neighbors (1 Macc. 8; 12; 14:16, 24; 15:15–24; Ant. 12.10.6:414–19; 13.5.8:163–65; 13.9.2:259–66). The alliance aided the Jews in their priorities of Law observance, temple worship, and national independence. Jewish land and its religious influence in conquered territories subsequently grew. Political and religious disagreement also emerged, however, due to high-priestly and kingly offices coming together and furnishing candidates who descended neither from Zadok nor David.

In 65 BCE, rival Hasmonean claimants appealed to Roman general Pompey (106-48 BCE) for his support. Pompey sided with Hyrcanus II (d. 30 BCE; high priest of Judaea from 76 to 40 BCE) against Aristobulus II (d. 49 BCE; high priest and king of Judea from 66 to 63 BCE), both being the final Maccabean (Hasmonean) rulers.

Pompey marched into Jerusalem in 63 BCE, slaughtered its defenders, desecrated the Temple, and enslaved Aristobulus II, his family, and many others. Pompey installed Hyrcanus II and ordered the reestablishment of the cultus, after which the Jewish nation became a temple state under Roman tribute (Ant. 14.4.1–5:54–79; 14.5.4:14.6.1; J.W. 1.6.4–7.7:131–58; 1.8.6:171–74; 4Q183; 4Q322; 4Q324a fr. 2; 4Q324b fr. 1). Since Pompey entered Jerusalem in 63 BCE, a new era had been ushered in across Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.

The Roman incursion in Palestine aroused Jewish reflection, especially in the Qumran Commentary on Habakkuk (1QpHab). The violence meted out against those regardless of age or gender (6:10) and the imposition of an annual “yoke of their taxes” (6:1–8) were the result of divine judgment upon those who have been unfaithful to the Law (5:3–8), as well as a trial of faithfulness for those who obey the Law and the words of the Teacher of Righteousness (5:3–8; 7:11; 8:2).

Psalms of Solomon says that because of its sins, the Jewish nation became governed and oppressed by leaders who were sinners themselves. The author refers to Aristobulus I and his progeny, who “laid waste [to] the throne of David in tumultuous arrogance” (17:8). Pompey’s actions were considered the judgment of God upon the Jewish people “according to their deeds” (17:9). Against the rulers, through him, God “cast them down, and remove[d] their seed from the earth” (17:8). Yet Pompey remains a “man that was an alien to our race” (17:9; cf. 17:15), the “sinner” who battered down fortified walls and ascended the altar (2:1), and was himself slain by God (2:30–35).

After Pompey’s defeat in 48 BCE, Hyrcanus II was reconfirmed by Julius Caesar (63 BCE–14 CE) as high priest and made Jewish Ethnarch. Herod the Great (c. 72–c. 4 BCE), son of Antipater I (c. 114–c. 43 BCE), came to the ascendancy, although with challenges caused by various Roman factions during the civil war (49–45 BCE) and the rise and fall of his Jewish support. 

Herod the Great governed well for the Romans, surviving Jewish opposition and escaping the Parthian invasion of 40 BCE. In Rome, he received Jewish kingship from Mark Antony (83–30 BCE), Julius Caesar, and the Roman Senate (Ant. 14.14.3–5:377–389; J.W. 1.14.4:282–285), returned to fight the Parthians, won Caesar’s confidence, and had the re-confirmation of his kingship after Mark Antony’s defeat at Actium in 31 BCE (Ant. 15.6.1–7:161–195; J.W. 1.20.1–2:386–392). 

References and Resources

Keddie, Anthony. 2019. Class and Power in Roman Palestine: The Socioeconomic Setting of Judaism and Christian Origins. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press 

Roberts, John. 2007. The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Rapske, Brian M. 2008. “Roman Rule in Palestine.” In The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus, edited by Craig A. Evans, 1852–1872. (Apple Books pagination). Oxfordshire, England: London and New York Routledge.