After the successful revolt of Judas Maccabeus, the new Hebrew Hasmonean Dynasty endured moderate prosperity, although the effects of Greek culture were often combated by violent terrorists and mass agitators known as zealots, who advocated a far more orthodox adherence to the Covenant of God than the sacred writings suggested.
This continued for little over seventy years, after which Palestine fell to the legions of Gnaeus Pompey the Great from Rome, which, in 64 B.C., had been summoned by one of the Hebrew factions that sought to place its representative on the throne.
However, Pompey abolished the kingship altogether and bestowed upon a man of his choice the title of High Priest. Roman occupation of Jerusalem exhibited ominous beginnings and would intensify into a force that would deal the final blow to the existence of an independent Jewish state, a blow whose impact would linger for the following two thousand years.
Largely, early Roman administrations did not intervene with the religious freedoms of the Jews, and were supported by a majority of the population and aristocracy, featuring as their most prominent representative Herod, who was installed in a position of kingship and ruled from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C.
Herod ordered the construction of a colossal temple on the famed hilltop overlooking the city, various reconstructions of which have been recently undertaken. He also commissioned the creation of two palaces for himself. Palestine was annexed into the Roman Empire in the year 6 B.C.; however, it retained jurisdictional independence through the Sanhedrin, a council of learned elders that governed practical aspects of Jewish life.
This continued for little over seventy years, after which Palestine fell to the legions of Gnaeus Pompey the Great from Rome, which, in 64 B.C., had been summoned by one of the Hebrew factions that sought to place its representative on the throne.
However, Pompey abolished the kingship altogether and bestowed upon a man of his choice the title of High Priest. Roman occupation of Jerusalem exhibited ominous beginnings and would intensify into a force that would deal the final blow to the existence of an independent Jewish state, a blow whose impact would linger for the following two thousand years.
Largely, early Roman administrations did not intervene with the religious freedoms of the Jews, and were supported by a majority of the population and aristocracy, featuring as their most prominent representative Herod, who was installed in a position of kingship and ruled from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C.
Herod ordered the construction of a colossal temple on the famed hilltop overlooking the city, various reconstructions of which have been recently undertaken. He also commissioned the creation of two palaces for himself. Palestine was annexed into the Roman Empire in the year 6 B.C.; however, it retained jurisdictional independence through the Sanhedrin, a council of learned elders that governed practical aspects of Jewish life.
Early Roman administrations did not intervene with the religious freedoms of the Jews, and were supported by a majority of the population and aristocracy, featuring as their most prominent representative the infamous King Herod.
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