roman province ofjudeaofiudeajudeaof a overview

the roman province ofjudeaofiudeajudeaofA historical overview

john E hall

the comingcoining of rome to judea

romes acquisition ofofjudeajudea and subsequent involvement inthe affairs of that long troubled area came about in largely indirectfashion for centuries judea had been under the control of the hel-lenisticlenistic greek monarchy centered in syria and known as the seleu-cid empire one of the successor states to the far greater empire ofalexander the great who conquered the vast reaches of the persianempire toward the end of the fourth century BC As the decayingseleucid monarchy disintegrated rome was compelled to take con-trol of the eastern littoral of the mediterranean and its hinterlandin order to prevent ambitious petty kings in the region and moreimportantly a renascent parthian empire from filling the vacuumleft with the fall of the seleucids and so posing a threat to romesmediterranean empire As a part of this larger region and as a placeonce ruled by the seleucids judea became a subject area of rome

rome was not interested in judea per se and for too long didnot understand the problems unique to judea which should haveprevented the romans from dealing with the jews in the same waythey did the other subject peoples in the eastern reaches of theempire similarly the jews made no effort to become acquaintedwith their roman rulers to whom they regrettably attributed thecharacteristics of their previous greek masters whose efforts toencourage hellenization entailed a lack of religious toleration whichthreatened jewish worship by contrast rome was actually quitetolerant of the religions of all its subject peoples this mutualmisunderstanding of the nature of judea by the romans and of

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320 masada and the world of the new testament

rome by the jews clearly made more difficult the administrationofofjudeajudea however by itself it cannot account for the tragic eventsin judea which derived less from any relation to rome than fromthe vehement struggle among rival jewish factions whose ambi-tions for power harmed their countrymen and ultimately broughtan end to judea as an entity

in 6563 BC the territory ofofjudeajudea for the first time came underthe direct administration of rome while rome had been for nearlya century an important determinant in the affairs of this regionincreased roman supervision was the natural result of administra-tive inefficiency on the part of local dynastsdynasty and minor chieftainswho governed portions of the roman near east as client kingslocal rivalries and ambitions among native rulers sometimes led tooutright armed conflict among themselves and occasionally evenwith their roman overlords in the mid first century BC such prob-lems both in judea as well as throughout the eastern mediterraneanin general occasioned a roman reordering of the entire region

when a challenge to roman rule was made by mithridates ofpontus who sought to assert control over the whole of asia minormurdering romans greeks and many other local inhabitants inhis path pompey the great concluded the conflict with theexpected roman victory 1 afterward pompey turned his attentionto reorganizing administratively romes eastern holdings in 63 BCrome attached the territory of judea to the newly created romanprovince of syria where a high ranking roman governor of pro-consular status would exercise ultimate authority over judea alongwith syria and other areas in the vicinity the action was taken as

part of pompeyspompeisPompeys general settlement of the eastern mediterraneanand in response to specific disruptive conditions in judea occa-sioned by the rivalries of jewish noble families claiming the highpriestly office and with it local rule 2 though not yet organized asa separate province roman judea takes its beginning in these events

roman administration in judea

roman interest and involvement in the administrative affairsofofjudeajudea actually predates pompeyspompeisPompeys arrival rome had on severaloccasions upon the repeated requests ofjewish rulers interveneddiplomatically to prevent the seleucid monarchs of syria from

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reasserting their previous authority over judea and had therebypreserved judean independence under the rule of the high priestand sanhedrin 3 had it not been for rivalry among jewish noblefamilies vying with one another for the power to rule jewish inde-pendencependence may perhaps have continued however the chaotic con-ditions produced by such internal conflict threatened the peaceof surrounding territories and mandated roman intervention tomaintain law and order not only in judea but throughout theimmediate region

despite the administrative redistricting ofjudeajudeaof little changein fact transpired as regards the actual day to day administration ofjudea in accordance with roman policy for provincial administra-tion in judea as in other provinces the continued influence of localleaders was maintained and as much local governance as possiblewas placed in their hands the high priest and nobles continued todirect the internal affairs of judea no longer with independentauthority but subject to the oversight of a roman proconsul inantioch however antioch was far distant and as long as problemsdid not surface direct roman concern with the area would havebeen extremely minimal roman policy had long adhered to theperspective that local governance was the most convenient pro-vided the status quo be maintained including the preservation oflaw and order the collection of assessed revenues and the supportof roman foreign policy with the supply of troops when required

romes major concerns for the provinces were to maintain apeace in which roman trade and commerce could be conductedand romans could come and go in safety taxes were collected tosupport the framework of government including the army asguardians of internal security and providers of protection from thethreats of foreign powers or barbaric enemies without the empireromes attitude toward the administration of judea differed not atall from that of rome in regard to all its holdings

intervention in the domestic affairs ofjudea was unavoidablefor pompey rivalry among jewish factions interrupted order andprevented commerce moreover the jewish conflict threatened tospill over into neighboring areas also under romes control judeasgudeaslatest internecine conflict was a struggle for succession betweenthe two sons of alexander jannaeusJannaeus the rightful heir hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus


had been displaced by his brother aristobulusAristobulus but with the aid ofthe idumeanidumaean chieftain antipaterantipatesAntipater hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus sought to reassert hisrights militarily both claimants appealed to rome for support inmuch the same way in which rival jewish factions had appealedfor centuries for aid or intervention military and otherwise fromthe hellenistic monarchs of seleucid syria judeasgudeas ostensible ene-mies since the time of the maccabees in their eagerness for thesupport of their enemies jewish leaders had been willing to concedemuch such willingness extended to making whatever concessionswere necessary for roman support as well the formal organiza-tion ofofjudeajudea as a roman territory while a natural consequence ofromes acquisition of seleucid territories and organization of theprovince ofofsyriawassyria was also a direct result of internal conflict betweenjewish factions nevertheless in establishing hyrcanushercanusHyrcanus as highpriest to continue local administration subject to the direction ofthe roman proconsular governor of syria standard roman prac-tice of preferring local government where possible was followeddespite the factional rivalry within judea rome obviously did notwish to become too directly involved in judea 4

hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus did not rule as king but as ethnarch a far lessimportant position and as high priest antipaterantipatesAntipater continued to culti-vate rome and roman involvement in the region receiving in returnthe ruling power in his native idumea antipatersAntipaters position as a

chief advisor to hyrcanushercanusHyrcanus and his other involvements in judeanaffairs laid the foundation for ruling positions later granted byroman overlords to himself and his sons herod and phasaelPhasael chiefadministrators for galilee and jerusalem respectively so establish-ing idumeanidumaean rulers over judea I51

roman affairs around judea

while pompeyspompeisPompeys settlement of jewish affairs was in the mainnecessitated by internal happenings in judea subsequent romanactions toward judea were occasioned by larger events external tojudea invasions of roman territory including judea by a newparthian kingdom in what had been the mesopotamian reaches ofthe seleucid empire and civil conflicts between roman factionseffected frequent change in the administration ofjudea over the next


four decades 6 ultimately herod was established as client king ofrome in charge of an expanded judea the hasmoneanhasmonaeanHasmonean dynastyof the maccabees and with it a modicum of self government byjudeansjudeaneJudeans was brought to an end with herodshernds accession continuedinternal conflict among branches of the hasmoneanhasmonaeanHasmonean family and theintrigue with and appeal to parthia for aid by the sons ofaristobuofaristobulus was responsible for yet another roman intervention and the fallof the hasmoneanhasmonaeanHasmonean dynasty

the first of these interventions was directed by a lieutenantand supporter of pompey aulus gabiniusGabinius who succeeded scaurusstaurusas governor of syria in 55 BC gabiniusGabinius was forced to intervenemilitarily to restore order in judea where alexander son ofofaristoefaristoaristobulus had raised his supporters in revolt against the ethnarchhyrcanushercanusHyrcanus and his idumeanidumaean supporters antipaterantipatesAntipater and his sons aristobulusrobulus himself escaped from rome and joined his sons insurrec-tion not only did rome need to deal with the consequent civildisorder and interruption of commerce but in this instance theroman response to the insurrection had to be especially swift andeffective since rome supported the established government of hyrayrcanusbanus in addition the rival faction sought to end that support throughoverthrowing roman rule entirely by soliciting the military inter-vention of parthia against rome because such an act was consid-ered treasonable and violated the most important roman dictumfor provincial noninvolvementinvolvementnon in foreign affairs direct and mas-sive roman military intervention was dictated gabiniusGabinius and hislieutenant marc antony led roman troops into judea defeated therevolutionaries restored hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus to power and increased the author-ity ofantipaterantipatesAntipater and herod who had proven themselves as support-ers of rome from this time on romes interest in judea increasedand closer attention was paid to the area which bordered the im-portant province of syria which was organized as a military prov-ince of the first rank and was the key to roman control over theempires entire eastern frontier thus judea comes to have a strate-gic if not an economic importance for rome 7

the powerful marcus licinius crassus partner in romes firsttriumvirate with pompey and julius caesar succeeded gabiniusbiniusGa

as governor of syria in 54 BC eager to equal the military exploitsof pompey in the east and those of caesar in gaul crassus used


the excuse of parthian intrigue in areas of the roman eastern fron-tier including judea as reason to initiate hostilities against theparthiansparthianaParthians crassus suffered one of the greatest defeats of romanarms at carrhae in 5553 BC 8 with this parthian victory roman con-cern increased over the affairs of her eastern territories held inlarge part by only semiloyalsemiroyalsemiloyal client kings questions were raisedin rome over the wisdom of its policy regarding the involvementof provincial leaders in governing the provinces no doubt the dis-loyalty and intrigue ofjewish factions contributed to reassessmentof the policy however roman action against parthia and reconsid-eration of its eastern provincial arrangements were delayed by thegreat civil war between pompey and caesar

caesar defeated pompey at pharsalusPharsalus in 48 BC essentially end-ing the civil war although with a small legionary force caesar fol-lowed the fleeing pompey to ptolemaic alexandria upon his arrivalcaesar was presented with pompeyspompeisPompeys head by the teenage monarchptolemy XII who was comonarch with his sister cleopatra ptolemyhad waged civil war against cleopatra and driven her from alexan-dria highly displeased that a leading roman would be executed atthe hand of alexandriansAlexandrians caesar took alexandria with his smallforce he supported the returned cleopatra who became his mis-tress and ultimately he placed her alone on egyptsegypto throne besiegedby ptolemysPtolemys army caesar required immediate aid in the form oftroops from romes client rulers in surrounding territories hyrayrcanusbanus and antipaterantipatesAntipater were fast to respond and accompanied romanlegions from syria to effect the relief of caesar at alexandria theirloyalty was well rewarded by caesar who increased the territoryunder hyrcanussHyrcanuss control confirmed antipaterantipatesAntipater as chief minister ofjudea and extended to him and his sons both roman citizenshipand the lucrative tax collection franchise for judea moreover asundisputed master of rome caesar promulgated laws to protectthe religious freedom of jews throughout the empire extendingto the jews an unprecedented grant of special privileges 9

the support of the idumeanidumaean royal family for caesar not onlylaid the foundation for their own rule over judea and other sur-rounding areas but also had the added consequence of securingfor the jews as a group the grant of special privilege which pro-tected jews from greek antisemitismanti semitism the privilege also secured


for the jews special rights of religious worship even beyond thoseextended to all subject peoples of the empire as part of romesgeneral tolerance of religion furthermore caesarscaesaraCaesars actions ineffect restored the full authority of rule to hyrcanushercanusHyrcanus if any neces-sity of reporting to syrias governor lingered it was surely ended inthe events following caesarscaesaraCae sars assassination with the establishmentof herod as judean monarch

herodshernds alliancefiancehianceAl with rome

in the struggle for power after caesarscaesaraCaesars death caesarscaesaraCaesars lieu-tenant marc antony and caesarscaesaraCaesars nephew and adopted son octa-vian caesar the future augustus emerged as the two primaryclaimants of power in the roman world antony who had alsoserved as gabiniuss lieutenant in the east and during his 55 BC

expedition to judea made the eastern provinces his base of opera-tions for the struggle with octavian antonysanthonysAntonys liaison with cleopatrais of course well known however for judea antonysanthonysAntonys impor-tance cannot be overestimated for it was antony who made judeaan independent client kingdom of rome ruled over by a kingantipatersAntipaters son herod

in 42 BC when antony disposed of eastern problems andreassigned territories in the eastern part of the empire delegationsof jews approached him demanding the removal of antipatersAntipaterssons herod and phasael from power the idumeanidumaean brothers remindedantony of their familysfamilys services to caesar and donated a substan-tial sum to antonysanthonysAntonys war chest in return they became the de factoregents for the aged hyrcanushercanusHyrcanus showing respect to the old eth-narch but in fact ruling with the titles of tetrarch 10

the occasion for antonysanthonysAntonys reorganization of judea entailedanother attempt by yet another ofofaristobulussaristobuluss sons antigonus todepose hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus and with him the real powers in judea theidumeanidumaean tetrarchstetrarchy antigonus was aided in his cause by an invad-ing parthian army which briefly seized control ofofjudeajudea and areasof syria before antonysanthonysAntonys lieutenants drove the parthiansparthianaParthians out ofroman territory herod escaped death at the hands of the aristobulus faction and the parthianaparthiansParthians by taking refuge in idumea in hisfamilysfamilys specially prepared stronghold on the heights of masada


he subsequently fled to rome in 40 BC where antony and octa-vian agreed to bestow upon herod the long vacant title of king ofjudea it is surprising that that direct roman rule in judea was notopted for after so direct a challenge to roman rule in judea by ajewish faction seeking their advancement over the faction inpower a challenge which even entailed a parthian incursion thefact that roman control was instead actually loosened with the cre-ation of a full fledged semiautonomous client kingdom demon-strates antonysanthonysAntonys adherence to the principle of local administrationfor provinces as well as a definite lack of interest in judea by com-parison with more important areas antonysanthonysAntonys legate sosiusjosius andherod were entrusted with the responsibility of driving parthiansparthianaParthiansout of judea and deposing antigonus by 37 BC the task wasaccomplished and herodshernds long rule over judea commenced 11

judea as a client kingdom of rome

from 37 to herodshernds death in 4 BC and into the brief reignof herodshernds son archelaus which came to an end in AD 6 judeawas technically not a province of rome but rather a dependentclient kingdom of rome administered by herod and archelausas client kings the dependent kingdom was not unique to judeabut was a standard form of administration for areas under romancontrol particularly in the eastern reaches of the empire underthis type of administration herod would have been subject notto a proconsul in syria but directly to the triumvirstriumviri antony andoctavian and after the establishment of the principate directlyto augustus 12

during the early years of herodshernds rule civil war decided thecontest for power between antony and octavian antony in con-trol of the eastern parts of roman territory enlisted the aid of themany client kings of the east in his struggle against octavianherod chose to support antony and contributed money and troopsto antonysanthonysAntonys cause when octavian defeated antony and cleopatrain 31 BC at actium and later saw to their deaths in egypt herodas a loyal supporter of antony found himself in an uncomfortableposition visavis a vis the triumphant octavian soon to be elevatedaugustus caesar herod protested to octavian that the loyalty he


had shown was far from criminal but rather a quality to be soughtin a client king he persuaded octavian that he would show him asruler the same loyalty he had demonstrated toward antony herodnot only persuaded octavian to permit him to retain his rule ofjudea but octavian also added many surrounding territories toherodshernds judean realm including those which in 63 BC pompeyhad attached to syria and other administrative units in the regionfor the next twenty seven years until his death herod remained afaithful client to octavian now augustus caesar sending his grand-son herod agrippa named for augustuss soninlawson in law and herodsherndsfriend marcus vipsaniusVipsanius agrippa to be raised in augustuss ownhousehold in judea herod built the samaritan city sebaste thegreek form of augustuss name in honor of the emperor con-structedstruc ted a roman amphitheater in jerusalem dedicated to augus-tus and required all jews to swear an oath of allegiance toaugustus the implementation of which violated jewish religiouslaw moreover herod was in private if not in public a devotee ofthe emperors cult 13 needless to say herod worried about theever increasing antagonism many jews harbored for him to pro-tect himself from the occasional anger of his jewish subjectsthe family fortress at masada was strengthened and improved inthis manner herod kept the peace in judea and served his romanmasters faithfullyfaithfalthnilly judea was a peaceful if a poor and insignificantcorner of the great empire its strategic importance declined asparthian designs on romes eastern reaches retreated before themight of the well governed realm of augustus caesar 14

Restabilizing judea after herodshernds death

the stability ofjudea as a roman holding was disrupted at thedeath of herod the problems of factionalism now not only amongjewish nobles but also among religious sects and other jewishideological factions reemerged as a source of conflict initiallyaugustus recognized as successors to herodshernds fiefdom his declaredheirs his three surviving sons archelaus ethnarch of judeasamaria and idumea antipas tetrarch of galilee and perea andphilip tetrarch ofofltureaiturea none succeeded to the office of king butoccupied lesser posts the now divided regions of herodshernds once


significant holdings again were officially subject to the roman gov-ernor of syria as they had been before herod archelaus maintainedpower in face ofjewish resistance only with the help of augustusslegate in syria publius quintiliusquintillusQuintilius varus finally faced with chaoticconditions in judea as well as revolt and clamor from the jews atjerusalem who preferred direct roman government to rule byarchelaus the unfortunate and ineffective ethnarch was strippedof his titles and exiled to gaul archelaussArchelauss holdings were annexedas a province under the administrative oversight of the largerprovince of syria in AD 6 this act constituted the formal organi-zation of judea as a roman province the new governor of syriathe augustan legate publius sulpiciusSulpicius quiriniusQuirinius sent as his localadministrator for judea one Coponius who first occupied theoffice ofjudean prefect

quirinus himself traveled south with the roman legions ofsyria to restore order in judea and assure the position of coponiusponiuscoloniusCo

the level of roman interest in judea had not changed but the civildisorder created by increased factionalism and archelaussArchelauss inabilityto govern necessitated a response to the request of leading jewsfor the order they rightly believed would accompany direct romanadministration the establishment of orderly government in judeawas resisted at this time by sicariisicardiSicarii who for the first time are notedas disruptorsdisruptersdisruptorsers of order they failed to offer a challenge to the disci-plined troops of rome however and coponiussCoponiuss authority wasestablished the jews at jerusalem had the roman governmentthey had petitioned for 15

roman governors ofofjudeajudea

the so called office of roman governor ofjudea was very lim-ited in authority by comparison to the augustan legates thelegates were governors of major provinces commanding a largelegionary compliment by contrast to the individual cohorts orauxiliary troops which constituted the smaller and less profes-sional military contingent for a place like judea the governor ofjudea is identified inaccurately by some sources such as josephusas the minor governor known as the procurator in fact his officewas even less significant inscriptional evidence leaves no doubt


whatever that pilate and other judean governors held the positionof praefectus ludaeaeiudaeae while the roman administrator at jeru-salem was apparently in some fashion subject to the much higherranking governor of syria within judea he nevertheless exercisedfull civil and criminal jurisdictional powers the permanent resi-dence of the roman prefect seems to have been at caesarea on thecoast rather than at jerusalem his authority throughout the prov-ince was enforced by roman troops not a full legion but severalcohorts of roman regulars as well as non roman auxiliary troopsin romes service in jerusalem a roman cohort of six hundredmen occupied the fortress of antonia built by herod adjacent tohis temple and named in honor of marc antony herodshernds palaceand citadel complex in the upper city was also held by a romangarrison the prefects authority prestige and power base was suf-ficient for what rome considered a small and insignificantprovince like judea at least until the time of the jewish rebellionit is important to recognize that judea was not considered animportant province it had a governor of rather low rank and sta-tus the governors office would not be filled by the most capableor important romans and the lack of prestige or ability on the partof its governors may have ultimately affected adversely the admin-istration of the province 16

roman sources both literary and epigraphic as well as thewritings of josephus provide us with a good record of the romanrulers over judea fourteen prefects ofjudea served between AD 6and the outbreak of the jewish war in the year 66 they were notmen otherwise known for accomplishments at rome three arementioned in the account of the new testament pilate whoserved as governor from 26 to 5636 felix who served from 52 to 59and festus who governed from 60 to 62 of the provinces romanadministrators valerius 15 26 and pilate served for far longerterms than other governors who could expect a tenure of only afew years the longer tenure in office of valerius and pilate proba-bly had less to do with the quality of their service and more to dowith their service transpiring during the period when tiberius wasemperor it was a general practice of tiberius to leave governorsin office for long periods of time throughout all the provinces ofthe empire the tenure of roman governors in judea was briefly


interrupted from 41 to 44 when the emperor claudius rewardedhis boyhood friend herodshernds grandson herod agrippa with therestoration of herodshernds kingdom including not onlyonlyjudeajudea samariaand surrounding areas once ruled by herod but also adding to itadditional new lands the very act of ending the existence of aroman province which at that time judea had been for thirty fiveyears and reverting its territory into a client kingdom was extraor-dinary but to take additional lands from other roman holdings toadd to the restored client kingdom speaks to both the confidenceand affection which claudius possessed for herod agrippa 17

benefits of roman rule

once direct roman government had been established in judeain AD 6 the province benefited not only in terms of freedom fromthe internal civil conflict and dissatisfactions which had marked itshistory for centuries but also came to enjoy a new prosperitywhich strengthened the allegiance to rome of at least those whomost reaped the wealth deriving from the improved economy 18

there were no popular revolts of the sort which had threatenedthe reign of herod and brought to an end the rule of archelausroman demands on judea were not particularly heavy certainly noheavier than those placed on other provinces little change wouldhave occurred in the day to day life of people in judea from thetime of herodshernds rule to the time of the roman governors most mat-ters relating to jews would have been administered by local jewishleaders the fact that jesus was subjected to the jurisdiction ofhigh priest and sanhedrin before that of pilate highlights jewishleaders involvement in provincial administration alongside theroman governor discontent among some segment of societyespecially groups like zealotszealouszealots sicariisicardiSicarii and others who sought forpolitical power and control was overshadowed by the relativepeacefulness of the general population

in such a setting unfolded the events of the ministry of christand the acts of the apostles after the saviors death christianswho were themselves the frequent target of zealotszealous and sicariisicardiSicarii fol-lowed christs injunction to render unto caesar accordingly amongchristians there is no record of the opposition to rome which is

roman province ofofjudeafuden 331

found among other judean groups roman overlordship guaranteedthe peace and made it possible for judea to become more com-pletely a full participating partner in the roman ecumeneumeneec withthe increased economic prosperity which derived therefrommany jews eager for the opportunities of personal advancementleft judea migrating to other parts of the roman world just as thehellenistic ecumene had proved an attraction for opportunitywhich resulted in the establishment of the jewish diaspora so tooa second diaspora was established as jews settled throughout notonly the eastern but also in the western parts of romes empiresimilarly the pax romana provided opportunity for christians totravel throughout a vast empire to proselyte 19

mounting tensions with rome

with the inception of the reign of gaius caligula in AD 37an increased level of tension developed in judea stemming fromtwo sources first as a result of gaiussgainuss policy to increase thescope and function of the client kings administering romes hold-ings in various parts of the eastern segment of the empire variousbranches of the herodian house began to compete with eachother for increased authority and power this climate of height-ened political conflict no doubt served in turn to encourage politi-cal discontent among various groups within judea second gentileinhabitants of judea along with some jews as a result of increasedemphasis throughout the empire on the maintenance of the cultof the emperor attempted to erect altars to gaius the reaction ofother jews was one of extreme opposition gaius by then begin-ning to show symptoms of the mental disorder which brutalizedrome and eventually caused most leading romans to encouragehis murder at the hands the praetorian guard acted in a waycounter to the usual roman tolerance for local religious customsby ordering a statue of himself to be erected in the holy of holiesof herodshernds temple the imperial legate of syria petronius wasordered to advance into judea with the legions under his com-mand to assure that gaiussgainuss order was effected petronius aware ofthe protests and deteriorating civil order in judea which the orderprovoked appealed to the emperor to revoke these instructions


for which wise request petronius was instructed to commit suicidebefore this could occur all was ended by gaiussgainuss death in 41 20

much of the harm gaius had caused in all areas of the gover-nance of the empire was set aright by the responsible and con-cerned reign of claudius discontent in judea was decreased whenclaudius restored his boyhood companion and still closeclosciose friendherod agrippa as king of the realm his grandfather herod hadonce ruled regrettably for roman aims in judea herod agrippadied after ruling only three years upon herodshernds death claudiusintended to bestow the kingdom of judea and samaria on thekings son also called herod agrippa who was being raised inclaudiussClaudiuss household since the younger herod was only sixteenhowever claudiussClaudiuss advisors dissuaded the emperor from hisintention on grounds that so young a man could never effectivelyhandle the dynastic rivalries raised by his ambitious relatives northe political discontentsdiscontents and ambitions of various jewish factionsnor the everyday administration of an area which was becomingmore difficult to rule consequently judea reverted to its formerstatus as a roman province A roman governor now for the firsttime with the title of procurator assumed the administration ofjudea the stage was set for the two rebellions which would occuras several jewish factions each for different reasons sought to over-throw roman rule

the jewish war against rome

the circumstances which led to the jewish war are thor-oughly explicated in josephussjosephuesJosephuss history of the same name it is

important to remember that not all jews nor even a majority ofthe jews in judea participated in the rebellion indeed many jewsand certainly the christians who fled judea in large numbers toavoid the atrocities of the zealotszealous directed toward them were asmuch the target of the insurrectionists as were the roman andgreek inhabitants of judea one of the most important conse-quences of the jewish rebellion is that judea ceased to be the cen-ter of the christian movement christians forced from judea byzealous jews spread throughout the empire where their proselyeroselyting engendered the growth of christianity


the war was successfully prosecuted by rome in two stagesfirst the siege and conquest of jerusalem by the future emperorflavius vespasianusVespasianus and following the civil war which broughtabout vespasiansvespasianaVespasians accession by vespasiansvespasianaVesp asians son and heir titus andsecond after the rest of the country was pacified the siege ofmasada by flavius silva the detailed events of the rebellion arebeyond the scope of this study suffice it to say that rome dealtwithwithjudeajudea as it would any subject province where a small segmentof the population had fomented a rebellion violently seizing powermoreover the indiscriminate deaths of many jews at the hands ofthe zealotszealouszealots sicariisicardiSicarii and other insurrectionists made the rebellionin the eyes of rome less a political rebellion than a riot where allanailali

law and order of any kind disappeared from the roman per-spectivespective her opponents ininjudeajudea were neither patriots nor simplyarmed political opponents but merely criminals engaged as muchin pillage and rapine against their own people as attacks uponromans and greeks in the area rome pursued only those mem-bers ofjewish factions in rebellion other jews ininjudeajudea were unaf-fected as were the many jews living throughout the empire As

rome prosecuted the jewish war it not only had to root out thehidden strongholdsstrongholds of the rebellious factions but also securethe protection of the general jewish population from raids of thezealotszealouszealots the war in both its stages lasted from 66 to 74 the timeno doubt would have been considerably shortened if the romanlegions in judea under vespasian had not become involved in theroman civil war from AD 68 to 70 which was resolved withthe elevation of vespasian as emperor

the result of the war is more important for a consideration ofthe province ofofjudeajudea than the events of the conflict millarsbillarsMillars sum-mary remarks about the effects of the war on judea are instructive

it would be impossible to exaggerate the significance from many dif-ferent points of view of the great revolt which broke out in judea inAD 66 and did not end until the suicide of the defenders of masadain 74 within the jewish community it was marked by internal con-flicts of unparalleled ferocity and led to the destruction of thetemple the disappearance of sacrifice as a central element ofofjewishjewishreligious practice and the ending of the long linefinebine of high priests 21


not only did the nature of the jewish entity within judeachange as a result of the war but judea as a place of strictly jewishidentity also disappeared strong roman garrisons thereafter per-manentlymanent ly occupied the province new settlers were introduced tothe area from throughout surrounding regions of the eastern partof the empire the province of judea in both a cultural and juridi-cal sense came to an end once more millarsbillarsMillars remarks are instruc-tive in aptly summarizing the final result of the jewish rebellion

after the second of those rebellions the province would be given anew name syria palaestinaPalaestina from which all reference to the jewishcharacter of its population was lacking it would have a garrison oftwo roman legions and be the location of two roman colonicoloniaecolonialae cae-sarea and aelia capitolina jerusalem the long hesitation of romanrule was over 22

conclusion

the brief history of the roman province of judea reveals afundamental lack of understanding on the part of the romansabout the passions of the jewish people the jews were in partmotivated by religion but certainly were also motivated by per-sonal ambitions for power material gain or individual prestige atleast in the case of the jewish factions whose struggles against oneanother not only harmed their own people but also were instru-mental in destroying judea rome dealt with jewish factionalismfor over a century by resorting back and forth to rule by localdynastsdynasty or to direct roman administration often in response todemands from leading jews for a roman presence rome or indi-vidual romans may have regretted that they had any connectionwith judea a small and poor province hardly worth its cost intime and material expended on it by rome however once romeheld judea a consequence of filling the vacuum left in the regionwhen the hellenistic monarchies decayed it had to maintainjudea what worked so successfully for rome in the administrationof myriad peoples throughout its huge empire did not work injudea accordingly rome was compelled to resort to arms to insurethe peace when all else failed rebellions in the provinces wereextremely rare there simply was not the need to use roman legionsagainst provincials instead of using them in their assigned role ofprotecting the frontiers from the barbarians without however

roman province ofjudeaoffudea 335

the jewish rebellion clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of thelegions if they had to be called upon to perform a peacekeepingpeacekeepingrole unfortunately the efficiency of roman arms was disastrousfor all the many factions of jews in judea and even more regret-tably for the innocent inhabitants of the province who were asoften the victims of injustice at the hands of their countrymen as atthe hands of the romans

john F hall is professor of classics and ancient history at brigham young uni-versityversity

NOTES

porforor pompeyspompeisPompeys succession in command to lucullus and his prosecution ofthe final stages of the mithridatic war see erich S gruen the last generationof the roman republic berkeley and los angeles university of california press

1974 63 66 8386858683 86 see also john leach pompey the great london croomhelm 1978 74 92

pompeys2pompeyspompeisPompeys settlement of the eastern empire is discussed in detail by leachpompey the great 93 101 specific reasons for and actions precipitating theannexation ofjudeajudeaof to pompeyspompeisPompeys newly formed standing roman province in syriaare given in F E peters the harvest of hellenism A history of the near eastfrom alexander the great to the triumph of christianity new york simon andschuster 1970 320 24 336 38

judasudas maccabeusmaccabeesMaccabeus in 160 BC entered into a protective treaty with romewhen it was particularly interested in limiting the power of seleucid syriainsyniasyriasyrna in theregion twenty years later the treaty was renewed on several occasions romewarned the seleucid kings from making incursions into judean territory theindependence of maccabean judea was largely a result of romes protection seemichael grant the history ofancientof ancient israel new york charles scribners sons1984 212 13 and peters harvest of hellenism 268 70

pompeys4pompeyspompeisPompeys intervention overturned the previous act of pompeyspompeisPompeys chieflegate the newly appointed governor of syria marcus aemilius scaurusScaurstaurusus who hadaccepted a huge bribe from aristobulusAristobulus to confirm his rule it may be presumedthat hyrcanushercanusHyrcanus was able to reward pompey in similar monetary fashion for his sup-port see peters harvest of hellenism 321 24

5for5forifor discussion of the advance of the idumeanidumaean royal family see grant his-tory ofofancientancient israel 225 26 sixty years previous john hercanushyrcanusHyrcanus son of simonmaccabee had asserted jewish authority over idumea requiring the conversion ofthe area and the forced circumcision of its male inhabitants therefore whilethey were technically jewish the idumeansIdumeans were held by devout jews to be falsebelievers at best much of the opposition to herodshernds monarchy derives form the


anti idumeanidumaean attitude of not onlyjewishonly jewish nobles but the populace in general seepeters harvest of hellenism 286 88

parthians6parthiansparthianaParthians derived in part from the scythian parnipamipaal who migrated in thethird century BC from southeastern european steppes to the western territoriesof the persian empire settling in parthavaparthanaParthava joining with the local remnants of per-sians and laying the political and linguistic foundations of iran see peters har-vest of hellenism 343 45

7theathehe events are discussed in detail in peters harvest ofhellenismof hellenism 336 38

also see eva matthews sanford the career ofofaulusaulus gabiniusGabinius transactions ofthe american philological association 70 1939 649264 92

petersdetersmeters harvest of hellenism 34149341 49 see also TTJJ cadoux marcus cras-sus A reevaluation greece and rome 2dad ser 3 1956 153 61

metersdeters harvest of hellenism 380 82 grant history of ancient israel225 27 also see matthias gelzer caesar politician and statesman trans peterneedham oxford basil blackwellBlackweU 1968 239 52 of course caesarscaesaraCaesars own bel-lum alexandrinumAlexandrinum provides an account of the alexandrian campaign

10antonysantonysanthonysAntonys role in these events is analyzed in detail by eleanor goltz huzarmark antony london croom helm 1978 16162161 62

peters harvest of hellenism 38487384 87 grant history of ancient israel228 huzar mark antony 162 66

12for a thorough discussion of the institution as well as the entire romansystem of clientelaeclientelage see emsternst badian foreign clientelaeclientelage 264 7070 BBCc oxfordoxford university press 1958

13ronald13ronald syme the7 be roman revolution oxford oxford university press

19394741939 47414grant14 grant history of ancient israel 229 32 peters harvest of hellenism

387 94 A H M jones augustus new york norton 1970 50 57 63 64 fer-gus millar the roman near east 31 BBCC AD 333377 cambridge harvard univer-sity press 1993 27 31 38 39

1515jonesjones augustus 70 72 peters harvest of hellenism 393 94 millarroman near east 394939 49 steve mason josephusjosepbusJosep bus and the new testamentpeabody mass hendrickson 1992 100 103 for the office of legatuslegates augusti

pro praetorepraetore and the administration of syria under the augustan principate seemillar roman near east 313631 36

millar roman near east 45 john F hall procurator in the7 be anchorbible dictionary ed david noel freedman 6 vols new york doubleday 19925473 74 john F hall antonia tower of anchor bible dictionary 1274

masonmasonjosephusjosephus 100- 117100117 offers a good summary of the role and activi-ties of the roman governors of judea particularly as they are portrayed in thepages of josephussjosephuesJosephuss historical record A more comprehensive discussion ofthe office and activities of the prefects of judea is found in millar roman neareast 44 63

zeev safraisafran the economy of roman palestine london routledge1994 offers an excellent presentation of the economic aspects of roman judea

19 millar19millar roman near east 44 63 peters harvest of hellenism 508 14

millar2millar roman near east 56 59millar2millar roman near east 70millar roman near east 6611

roman province ofjudeaofiudeajudeaof a overview

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