Download Democratic demo = people, cratic = government

The Romans
63 BC Pompey invades Israel
57 BC - Pompey retires Ganeous takes over reducing the size of Judea.
54 BC - Krasus
48 BC - Battle of Carrhae, Romans & Parthians. Julius Caesar, Civil war in Rome.
40 BC - Parthians conquer Israel
39 BC - Herod the Great defeats Parthians in Acco (Ptolemais)
37 BC Herod Great crowned King of Judea. Rome divides into two
31 BC - Octavius and Marc Anthony fight at Actium
27 BC – Roman Empire - Caesar Augustus (Octavius) extends Herod’s area
13 BC - Herod in mental decline
4 BC - Herod dies
6 AD - Archelaus banished
6 AD – First Procurator period
41 – 44 AD Herod Agrippa I
44 AD - Second Procurator period
Democratic demo = people, cratic = government. When cities become too big a peopleself-rule is not sufficient to successfully control the area, it brings too much strife. With
the expansion of the Empire the Romans introduced a republic a form of government
whereby the people would elect representatives/governors on their behalf. Women were
at no stage allowed to be part of any governing power and did not even have Roman
citizenship. When Pompey invaded Israel he was already Pro-consul for the 5th time.
Consuls When the Roman Republic was first set up, in 500 BC, the people in charge
were two consuls. They controlled the army, ruled whether to go to war and how much
tax to collect. Both had to agree in order to change anything; if one of them said “veto”,
Latin for “I forbid it”, then nothing would be done. Consuls ruled for one year and could
extend their term for one year only. They took advice from the Senate. Upon retirement
as consuls they would enter the Senate as pro-consuls, they held better positions than
regular senators.
Senate - made up of men from wealthy families in Rome. Membership in the Senate
was for the life. Most consuls eventually joined the Senate as pro-consuls, and most
senators were from families where their fathers and grandfathers had been in the Senate
Senator – member of the Senate
Procurator – provincial governors, men who oversaw the affairs of provinces, they
heard court cases and were in charge of the army.
Proconsuls – consuls who retired to the Senate and held better positions than regular
senators.
Province (Provinkia) areas outside Rome conquered Romans. Each province was the
property of Rome creating a new world reality, which is crucial for understanding Roman
attitudes. Roman soldiers could therefore do what they want because everything
belonged to Rome. People’s property was viewed as being “on loan” from Rome and
was held onto only if they behaved themselves towards the governors and solders.
The Roman Army
The Roman army remained the best military machine until the inventions of gunfire.
Enlistment into the army was by choice and was viewed as a profession and the Roman
army was the first professional army in the world. Soldiers received a good salary in salt
cubes. The army provided them with a career and a challenge. They had 3 years basic
training and negligence or over sleeping was punishable by death.
A legion consisted of between 15 – 18,000 soldiers and was divided into 3 parts of 5000
which was subsequently subdivided as follows
1) 5, 000 soldiers
2) 500 x 10 cohorts (kohorta)
3) 100 x 5 centuries (kentoriah)
4) 10 x 10 Maniples
5) Same division of 5,000 as above
6) Last 5 – 8,000 deragim - jobniks
Each maniple fought worked and camped together. A centurion was in charge of 10
maniples i.e. a century.
Pompey
63 BC Pompey, who is pro-consul for a 5th time, and running the Syrian province of
Syria, enters Israel with his army. He makes crucial administrative changes and reduces
the territory size held by the Jews. He goes to the coastal Polis cities and returns them
to their original residents, then he divides Israel into 3 regions:
Judea - Jericho, Adoraim. Capital = Jerusalem
Ever HaYarden – Capital = Perea (Chamtan)
Galilee – Capital = Tzipori
Most of these areas had a relatively high Jewish population and the capitals become the
biggest Jewish cities. He subdivides them all into 3 Sanhedirot. By doing these things he
removes Jewish independence, a Jewish kingdom and interfered with Temple affairs
From that moment on the Romans are regarded as the most poisonous enemy of the
Jewish people, far worse than any of their predecessors.
From Republic to Empire
In 57 BC Pompey retires Ganeous takes over and continues to reduce the size of Judea.
In order to demonstrate to the Jews that they no longer had religious autonomy he
enters the temple. In 54 BC Krasus takes over and at the same time in ancient
Mesopotamia the Parthians (Parteem) the Romans most significant enemy, are rising.
48 BC Battle of Carrhae (Charan) in which the Romans lose. As a result Rome becomes
destabilized and a civil war breaks out in Rome. Julius (Family name = Caesar) enters
Rome challenging Pompey for leadership. He goes against the rules and enters with his
army. His ultimate victory turns Rome from a republic to a dictatorship.
The Herodians
63 – 43 BC Herod Antipater – de facto administrator 63 – 55 BC, procurator 55 – 43 BC
37 – 4 BC Herod - Judea, Idumea, Samaria, Galilee Perea + surrounding regions
4 BC – 6 AD Archelaus, Son of Herod (Ethnarch of Judea Samaria Idumea)
4 BC – 34 AD Herod Philip, Son of Herod (Tetrarch of Northern Syria)
4 BC – 39 AD Herod Antipas, Son of Herod (Tetrarch of Galilee & Perea)
37 AD – 44 AD Herod Agrippa I, Grandson of Herod the Great
Herod Antipater
Rome had 2 ways of running the provinces away from home I) appoint a Roman citizen
who became leader of the “foreign” area ii) appoint a local leader without citizenship.
Both methods had advantages and disadvantages. Because of the civil war and
instability Rome could not appoint a Roman leader. The Romans do not want one man
to fulfil the appointment of priest and king so John Hyrcanus (Yohanon Horkinos) keeps
his position as High Priest and Antipater (Father of Herod the Great - whose father was
an Edomite convert) was given administrative control. Antipater gave both his sons
important jobs: Phaseal (Fatza’el) was governor of Judah and young Herod was
governor of Galilee. In order to demonstrate his faithfulness to Rome, impress the
senate and keep his position, Herod Antipater ruthlessly murdered any rebels. Such was
the case at Mount Harbel. Antipater is murdered and in 40 BC the Parthians conquer
Israel and they cut Hyrcanus (Horkinos) ear lobe, knowing that he cannot be High Priest
if his body is marked. In his place is appointed Aristoblus son, Mattitayahu Antigonus.
The Jews were pleased with the appointment of Aristoblus as High Priest because the
Romans didn’t appoint him. Phaseal (Fetza’el) is killed in Jerusalem and so young Herod
flees to Rome to ask for a legion to fight the Parthians who he defeats in Acco
(Ptolemais) Herod drives them out and the Romans are so impressed that they give him
title as King of Judea.
Civil War in Rome
In order to deal with the civil war Rome divides into two;
East = Marc Anthony (Markus Antonious) West = Octavius
In order to show his continual devotion to Rome and impress Marc Anthony, Herod
builds the Antonia fortress in honor of him. Later he builds Caesarea, The Herodion,
Massada, the Temple in Jerusalem to retain his favour with the Caesars.
The Jews are bitterly disappointed with Herod as the appointment of king. The nonRoman appointment of Antignos as High Priest had raised their hopes for a Jewish king
to restore their lost independence. Marc Anthony gives Cleopatra areas of Herod’s
province; Jericho En Gedi, places where the magical balsam plant grew. Herod is
paranoid of anyone who may cause an uprising and make him lose his throne so he
reigns with cruelty killing anyone he perceives as a threat.
The reign of Herod
31 BC Octavius and Marc Anthony’s armies gather at Actium for a massive war. All the
client kings are there except Herod who on purpose missed it by being a week late.
Octavius wins and slaughters all the client kings who supported Marc Anthony. Herod
manages to manipulate the situation and cleverly explains that his absence was a show
of support for Octavia. Octavius believes him and even awards Herod the title ‘Friend of
the Roman people.’ This involved an exemption from paying taxes for the rest of his life.
This is how he got money to build, he would still tax the people, but the tax would go
(legally) to his pocket and not to Rome.
Pax Romana
Octavius was a military conqueror that extinguished the fires of wars and revolts,
defeating many in battle. The Roman people saw this as a man having ‘god-like’
qualities and award him the title of Emperor Augustus = ‘majestic.’ With this the republic
finished and a new stage in Roman began, the Empire, the dictatorship, 200 years of
Roman peace Pax Romana. It was a time that Herod could do what he wanted because
he was Augustus friend. Even though he was a client king, against all rules he had an
army. All he had to do was to show he was faithful to Rome, and so his huge buildings
and styles reflect totally Rome.
27 BC - the second part of Herod’s reign. Augustus wants to reward Herod so he returns
to him the coastal towns restoring the continuity of the Judea geographical kingdom and
extending it to Syria, Bashan and the Golan. The Decapolis is not included in his
territory. Although Herod’s kingdom was much larger than the Hashmonean kingdom it is
not considered as “Eretz Israel HaShlema.”
Herod’s building projects
Herod built Caesarea for Caesar Augustus (Octavius). This and the second temple were
his two most adventurous and biggest building projects. The lack of deep-water ports
along the coast meant that Herod could not make money from mooring taxes and trade
cargo, unlike Tyre and Alexandria. Ships in the Mediterranean do not sail from October
to March because of the weather. Herod wanted to exploit this. He built a whole city with
accommodation, food, temples, and entertainment. He could offer cheaper prices than
Tyre and Alexandria because he did not need to pay taxes to the Roman government,
nevertheless he taxed people for less than they did and pocketed the money
accumulating great wealth in the process.
The Second Temple
Temple Mount – the area that Herod added around the temple, 479 metres in length
(Western Wall is only 70 metres long. There were over 1000 pillars in rows 4 thick. He
built a huge balcony for tourists. Most activities were carried out in the Ezrat Nashim –
the women’s quarter, this is also where the market was. The altar was 9m high. On the
very outside wall was a sign in Greek, Latin and Aramaic – ‘Non Jews enter at own peril.’
There were many steps in different process, symbolizing aliya. Up until Herod the first
and second temples were without the Temple Mount and only included the temple area
itself. Details of the second temple are found in Josephus and the Mishna. Building such
a huge temple was done for economic reasons. Every pilgrim festival Jews had to bring
a minimum of 2 sacrifices each - Chagiga and Re-ya. Each pilgrim festival meant around
1 and 1/2 Jews from Jerusalem and Jewish tourists. Many tourists could not bring
animals with them, and many were poor and could only offer pigeons. The 3000 caves
and columbariums throughout the Lowlands indicate that pigeon business was booming,
and therefore so was Herod’s taxes. Everywhere Herod was making money. The
feelings in the Jewish community towards Herod were mixed. Some were pleased they
had such a glorious temple, but most knew it was a compromise because the temple
measurements did not match the ones in the Scriptures and Herod was seen as a half
Jew, the representative of evil Rome. The areas outside of Jerusalem also suffered as
many left the agriculture work to become Herod’s builders. They blames him for the
collapse of this trade and more so the desertion of Jews from Judea. 13 BC Herod
becomes paranoid again, probably because of Syphilis, and starts to wipe out people
who threaten his throne. In 4 BC at the height of his murderous paranoia Yeshua is born
and as a result he wipes out the babies in Judea. He dies later that year. Herod’s reign
can be divided – He raised himself up as a fox, reigned as a lion and died as a dog.
37 – 27 BC Builds up his position
27 – 13 BC Builds his buildings
13 – 4 BC Paranoia
Upon knowledge that he is dying two rebels take down his symbolic roman statue at the
Armon HaMelech. They are sentenced to death with the execution to be postponed until
he dies. Upon his death Augustus divided the area between his 3 sons appointing them
as ethnarchs.
Archelaus – Judea
Herod Antipas – Galilee and Ever HaYarden
Philip – North east of Jordan, Golan.
The first procurators
The senate needs to authorize Herod’s will concerning the death sentence of the rebels.
The Jews ask Archelaus, the ethnarch of Judea to release the men. Wanting both
Jewish and Roman favor he finds himself subsequently in a dilemma but nevertheless
ultimately shows loyalty to Rome and executes them. As a result riots break out and
Rome is disturbed to hear that Archelaus seems incompetent at keeping law and order.
He is banished to Gaul and the other 2 brothers are relegated to tetrarchs – i.e. heads
over sub regions. The Senate decided that once again they needed to pay taxes so
Herod’s sons imposed heavy duties on the people. In turn the Jewish populace viewed
them as greedy, pro-Rome and murderous. Most riots and tensions are in Jerusalem
and far away from the other areas that are not near the Temple and government rule.
The Jewish population sees the demotion of Archelaus sons to simple tetrarchs as going
against the Torah and not appointing a king. Jews felt a chasm for a king and attitudes
towards the Romans became bitterer because they were viewed 93% of the Pharisee
(amcha) population therefore interfering with the Torah. In 6 AD the Romans decide to
replace the ‘local’ leader with a Roman procurator (natziv). The Roman army was
divided into 2 types of soldiers, chief commander (Pikud Bachir) and Pikud Zootar
(junior commander). The chief commanders were those who attended university and
were from rich families. At university they would learn military strategy and combat.
Junior was from a family of less social status and generally less intellectual. A junior
however grasped the chance of working his way up to as far as he could get. The
senate would send a prefect (Mefaked Ezrachi) and also a military commander (Mefaked
Tzva-ee) to the troubled lands. A prefect had more authority than the military
commander. In smaller areas such as Israel the prefect would often be the junior. It lead
to much corruption because the prefect would collect extra taxes and pocket it for
himself. They did not stay long in power because the locals complained. Scared of
revolts the Romans appoint someone else. The whole of Judea in 6 AD is defined as a
Province HaParashim.
6 AD – 66 AD
With the appointment of Roman procurators and Roman prefects, there is a total lack of
understanding between them and the local population. It wasn’t just nationalism and
Messianic aspirations that lead up to the Great Revolt. Some things done by the
Romans were ethnocentric (such as marching with a pig on their banner) and
accentuated the existing hatred. In 41 AD the Romans decide to appoint local leadership
Herod Agrippa I. He was unpopular and reigned for 3 years. AD 44 Romans revert back
to the second procurator period.
Different groups within Judaism became more politically based. Questions arose how to
deal with the Romans. Initially they all saw each other as legitimate parts of Judaism but
over the course of time as disagreements started it lead to feuds and killings. The
Jewish people say that the destruction of the Temple was ultimately because of this
hatred (sin’at ha’am) that grew up between brothers. Most of the nochrim (pagans) lived
in the Polis cities. A large Jewish community lived in Caesarea and tensions arose when
the question of offering 2 pigeons to Caesar was required there. They appealed to the
procurator who said it was a pagan city and therefore residents should do as they do.
The Jewish community took their appeal right the way up to the Caesar who decides that
it is for the pagans. It now puts them in a difficult position and the pagans come to a
synagogue in Caesarea and offer Caesar’s sacrifice there. A summary of these years
can be: Jews fight Romans, Jews fight Jews, Jews fight gentiles
The emergence of Jewish sects during the 2nd Temple
Prophecy had ceased during the 2nd temple but people still wanted to know how to hear
God. Different streams emerged in Judaism depending on how they would approach this
question. The Pharisee Hashmonean kingdom had tried to unite the function of priest
and king, to the opposition of the Sadducees. In 170 BC the Sadducees split into 2
groups, one group who stay in Jerusalem, in order to influence the priestly system from
within. The other group move down to Kumran (Essenes) in order to set up a
replacement temple based on purification.
Comparative Points
Pharisees
Sadducees
Essenes
Prophecy/Revelation
Finished
Finished
Continues in the present
Who can interpret
Any charismatic
Only the Priests
No need for interpretation
the Torah?
capable
because prophecy still
intelligent man
continues
Leadership Criteria
Excellence in
Those who
Those who belong to the
Torah
belong to the
group
knowledge
group
Main spiritual
Commandments
Sacrifices and
Prayer, purification rituals,
activity
and living the
temple life
temple worship (but not
Torah
Attitude to Oral Law
Jerusalem Temple)
Obligation to
Refutes the
No need for Oral Law
develop the
Pharisees Oral
because there are
Oral Law
Law
prophets
Access to the Holy
Equal rights for
Priest only
House of Zadok are
Place
access to Holy
mediators
Place
After life
Who can belong?
Afterlife,
No afterlife
Belief in after life
punishment and
punishment or
rewards
reward
Any level of
Aristocrats
Any level of society
society
Who is the real
Historical
Historical
Sect members who have
Israel?
national Israel
national Israel
entered into a “New
Covenant”