The Roman History
When Pompey suspected
Aristobulus of planning to rebel against Rome he besieged Jerusalem and, after
three months, breached the fortifications, entered the city, and reportedly
slaughtered twelve thousand Jews. Pompey and his officers entered the SetApart
of SetApart Places-(Holy of
Holies) in the Tabernacle, but he did not touch its costly furnishings and allowed
Tabernacle worship to continue. Jerusalem, however, was made tributary to the Romans
and the last vestige of Jewish independence was removed. Judea was incorporated
into the Roman province of Syria and it lost the coastal cities, the district of
Samaria, and the non-Jewish cities east of the Jordan. Hyrcanus was named
Ethnarch of Judea, including Galilee, Idumaea and Perea, and was confirmed as
High Kohen-(Priest). A yearly tribute was due Rome. Aristobulus and a number of other
captives were taken to Rome to favour Pompey's triumph. During the
voyage, however, Aristobulus' son Alexander escaped and attempted to organize a
revolt against Hyrcanus. With the aid of the Romans, however, Hyrcanus was able
to meet this challenge to his authority.
During the years of strife between Aristobulus
(II) and Hyrcanus the Idumaean governor Antipater (or
Antipas) took a lively interest in the politics of Judea. Antipater was
bitterly opposed to Aristobulus, partly through fear and partly because of his
friendship for Hyrcanus. It appears that Hyrcanus relied much on Antipater, and
that he was virtually the power behind the throne of Judea. The Jews resented
the influence of Antipater almost as much as they smarted under Roman
sovereignty. Although the Idumaeans had been incorporated into the Jewish state
by John Hyrcanus, they had never been assimilated and ancient rivalries were not forgotten.
In the crisis which followed the murder of Julius
Caesar Antipater and his sons showed loyalty to the new regime of
Cassius by zealously collecting tribute. Herod, a son of
Antipater, was given the title Procurator of Judea with the promise that he
would one day be named King. When Anthony defeated Brutus and
Cassius at Philippi, Asia again fell into the hands of a new regime. Herod,
however, quickly changed loyalties and bribed his way into favor with Anthony.
The eastern part of the once mighty Persian Empire was
occupied by a people known as Parthians who had never been subdued by Rome. In
41 B.C. they attached Jerusalem and made Antigonus, son of
Aristobulus II both king and High Kohen. Herod, the son of Antipater, who had
inherited the throne of Judea at the death of Hyrcanus, was forced to flee Rome.
There he won the favor of Anthony and was officially named "King of the Jews",
although the title would have meaning only after the Parthians were driven out.
Herod returned to Judea with Roman arms and triumphantly entered Jerusalem as king.
Herod's rule spanned the eventful years from 37 B.C. to 4
B.C. He is best known as the king who feared the birth of a rival "King of the
Jews" and caused the murder of infants in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of
YAHSHUA. While that act of Herod cannot be documented from secular records, his
other atrocities are well known. He had ten wives in all, and the Emperor
Augustus is reported to have commented of his family life, "I'd rather be
Herod's hog than his son." The hog was an unclean animal, and would not be
butchered, but Herod's wives and children were violently removed when they
interfered with his plans or were suspected of disloyalty.
Although detested by his Jewish subjects, Herod did seek to
win their favor. He built and rebuilt cities throughout the land: Samaria
became Sebaste in honor of Augustus; Straton's Tower became Caesarea with a harbor
protected by a mole, and a wall with ten towers. Fortresses, baths,
parks, market places, roads, and other luxuries of Hellenistic culture were part
of his building program.
In the eighteenth year of his reign (20/19 B.C.), Herod began
the work of rebuilding, on a grand scale, the Jewish Tabernacle in Jerusalem. The
main edifice was built by kohen's in a year and a half, but the work on the
entire complex of courts and buildings was not completed until the
procuratorship of Albinus (A.D. 62-64), less than a decade before
it totally destroyed by the armies of Titus (A.D. 70).
Herod's death followed quickly the birth of One who was to
challenge Herod's right to the title, "King of the Jews". With the death of
Herod-which no one mourned-the intertestamental period comes to an end and we
move into the New Covenant.