Judea under Greek and Roman Rule
Reviewed date: 2025 Aug 14
204 pages
Introduction
The book will cover the history of Judea from 334 BCE to 135 CE; that is, from the time Alexander conquered Judea until the time Emperor Hadrian expelled the Jews from Jerusalem.
1. Living with Giants: From Alexander to Antiochus III
Alexander
Alexander took Judea from the Persians. He established Greek cities within all his conquered territory, to administer it and effectively extract resources. The influx of Greeks had a Hellenizing cultural influence. After Alexander died and his empire split up, Judea was passed back and forth between his successors, primarily the Ptolemaic Empire (based out of Egypt) and the Seleucid Empire (based out of west Asia—that is, Babylonia and Assyria).
Ptolemies
Under Ptolemaic rule (3rd century BCE), Judea, Samaritis, and Galilee were agricultural backwaters. The Ptolemies built a number of Greek cities, including those which would become the Decapolis. The Jews began to realize that to get ahead in the world—to gain the wealth and influence that other nearby regions were experiencing—it was necessary to adopt Greek ideas and a Greek worldview. This Hellenizing sometimes clashed with adherence to the Mosaic Law.
Seleucid
Around 200 BCE, Antiochus III captured Galilee and Samaritis. Jerusalem surrendered without a fight. Now under Seleucid rule, Judea was given a chance to rebuild (a functioning economy being easier to extract taxes from, of course) and Antiochus III allowed the Jews latitude in their religious observances. The Hellenization continued. Antiochus III overreached in his other military campaigns and was pushed back by Rome.
Daniel
I'm not impressed with deSilva's description of Daniel as being a second century BCE "prophecy after the fact." (p. 6)
2. Abomination of Desolation: The Hellenizing Crisis and the Maccabean Revolution
I'd always heard that the Maccabean period was when a bunch of Jews got riled up because Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple, so they rebelled, threw off the shackles of oppression, and were an independent nation for a hundred years or so (until Rome showed up.) This chapter paints a more complex picture. Continual warfare between various claimants to the throne of the Seleucid empire created an opening for the Jews to gain some measure of autonomy in return for supporting one or another faction. There was considerable back-and-forth, continual shifting alliances, and yes, some rolling back of the religious persecutions. The Jews were able to practice their religion, and some of the Hellenizing influences were diminished or rolled back. But this was far from a quick, sudden throwing off of oppression as I'd naively assumed. I should have known; history is always more complex than the stories we tell.
I gather the period of (relative) independence came a little later, when the Seleucid empire collapsed. So, not exactly due to the Maccabean revolt, exactly, but because the Maccabean revolt preceded the collapse of Seleucid power, and because the Maccabean revolt did manage to earn some level of autonomy during the waning days of the Seleucid empire, it sort of seems like the one (Maccabean revolt) caused the other (Seleucid empire's demise.) But, no.
3. Heirs of Phinehas: The Rise and Demise of the Hasmonean Dynasty
Now this is the independent Judea. And what's more, they began to expand their territory, taking Samaria, Idumea (Edom), and solidifying their grasp on some port cities. Still, there was considerable warfare.
The Hasmonean dynasty set themselves up as both kings and high priests, which is not right under the Mosaic law. Also, there was plenty of infighting, attempted coups, and civil wars. So this independent Israel was no different than any of the other Hellenistic kingdoms of the region. Eventually the Romans exerted control over the whole region.
This was also the period where the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes became distinct partisan groups.
4. The King of the Jews: Herod and His Heirs
Herod's rise to power came as part of the political machinations of the Roman empire. His father Antipater supported Pompey, but quickly expressed support for Caesar when Caesar defeated Pompey. Later Antipater appointed his son Herod over Galilee. Herod got Marc Antony to sponsor him in the Roman Senate, and to appoint him king of Judea. When Octavian defeated Marc Antony, Herod switched allegiances. Octavian even enlarged Herod's territory.
Herod built up Judea, building harbors, cities, palaces, and temples. He ushered in a significant Hellenizing of the area. Herod was also generous to surrounding cities and territories, making gifts and investments, but always careful never to outshine the emperor. Herod also expanded the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
When Herod died, his kingdom was split into three parts: his son Archelaus ruled Judea and Samaria and Idumea, Philip ruled some Gentile areas, and Antipas was given Galilee and Paraea. Achelaus's rule was poor, and the emperor removed him after ten years. Philip ruled his Gentile area successfully until his death. Antipas's region, Galilee, was agrarian and had been largely ignored in Herod the Great's building projects; Antipas began building projects to transform Galilee.
By the time of Herod and his heirs, Jewish synagogues were a fully developed part of Jewish religious life.
5. Under the Eagle's Wings: Judea under Roman Rule
This is the part of history where Jesus shows up, and a little later the historian Josephus. Judea is now under direct Roman rule, but Herod Antipas rules in Galilee. Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, persuaded the Roman authorities to give him Philip's territory and to grant him the title of king. Herod Antipas tried to get the same title, but ended up being deposed; the emperor then gave Antipas's territory--Galilee--to Agrippa. Apparently Agrippa spent a lot of time in Rome, advocating for his people. With the unstable Gaius Caligula as emperor, I'm sure a lot of advocating was needed. When Caligula was assassinated, Agrippa helped broker Claudius's ascent to power, and as a result, Agrippa was given the entirety of Herod the Great's territory.
Agrippa left behind no capable heir (his son was only 17) so the area came under direct Roman rule. The Roman rulers were heavy-handed and tended to do a lot of killing. Anything that looked like a possible revolution was treated as such. At some point Agrippa II was given some power. The Jewish people were always agitating, and eventually this boiled over into a real revolt. Vespasian's campaign against the Jews was interrupted in 68 by Nero's death. Vespasian ended up as Emperor, and he dispatched Titus to put an end to the Jewish revolt, which he did in 70. This is when the Temple was destroyed. There's some talk about Titus trying to avoid destroying the Temple out of respect, but in the end it was completely destroyed.
It's also during this period--the First Jewish Revolt--where we see the Zealots.
6. A Failed Messiah and a New Beginning: The Second Jewish Revolt and the Rise of Rabbinic Judaism
Judea had been knocked back to an agrarian level by the destruction involved in putting down the revolt. Galilee fared better: there was little destruction. Many Jews lost their land, and Emperor Vespasian expanded the Temple tax to all Jews, and (as there was no longer any temple) redirected the money to pagan temples and the worship of pagan gods.
Without the Temple, rabbinic Judaism began to develop. It's too simplistic to say that the Pharisee sect became rabbinic Judaism because a lot of those sectarian distinctions faded away, but the Pharisee tradition did dominate. The Sadducees and Essenes disappear from history, leaving just the Pharisee tradition and the Christians as the two surviving strands of Jewish tradition. (The Zealots exit our historical records as well.) Outside of Israel, the distinction between Jews and the Christians (who were mostly Gentile) was clear by the second century. In Israel, the distinction between Jews and Jewish Christians was more muddy, with (apparently) most Jesus-followers continuing to operate as a sect of Judaism.
The Zealots were all (presumably) wiped out in the first revolt, but the Jewish people were still agitating. And then we have the Second Jewish Revolt, or the Bar-Kochba Rebellion. The rebels fought a guerilla war, and likely never liberated or held Jerusalem for any length of time, as was their aim. The rebels were besieged in Bethar south of Jerusalem, and defeated in 135. The revolt was centered around Judea and hit that region hard: "Judea experienced significant depopulation through death and enslavement." Meanwhile Galilee was largely spared.
After the revolt, Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem, which was a Roman city now. The rabbinic movement recentered in Galilee. Rabbinic Judaism created a new Greek translation of the Scriptures, and compiled the Mishnah.