Jerusalem in Revolt

Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE and began the Roman rule from 63 BCE to 614 CE. There were two Jewish revolts. The first Jewish revolt, also known as the “Great Revolt,” went from 66 to 73 CE. The second revolt, known as the “Bar Kokhba Revolt,” went from 132 to 135 CE. After the failure of the two revolts, Jerusalem ceased to be Jerusalem for a while and became Aelia Capitolina.

Some sources for the first revolt came from Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, and some archaeological evidences. Josephus, in the Antiquities of the Jews dated to 80 CE, tried to explained the revolts as resulting from zealot, or corrupt Roman governors, or religious infidelity, or eschatological expectations, or social polarization, or deteriorating relationships with the gentile population. Tacitus explained the revolts as arising from messianism and also from an inept administration. After Herod died in 4 BCE, his kingdom was divided among three of his sons, whose powers were much more limited. His son, Archelaus, became ethnarch of Judea. He was a very ineffective ruler, thus he was recalled to Rome and sent into exile in 6 CE. His second son, Herod Antipas, became tetrarch of Perea and Galilee. He ruled from 4 BCE until his exile in 39 CE. His third son, Herod Philip, became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, northwest of the Sea of Galilee. He rued from 4 BCE until his death in 34 CE. Only Herod Philip put human images on his coins, and he got away with it because the place the he ruled was far away from conservative Jews. In the end, the Herodian rulers were gradually replaced by Roman procurators.

Pontius Pilate was the only Roman governor of Judea mentioned in the Gospels. He was governor from 26 to 36/7 CE. He was ineffective, and he provoked the Jews. He was the one that tried Jesus and ordered his execution. He was recalled to Rome in 36/7 CE. Roman governors in Jerusalem during 6 to 66 CE were inexperienced and inept, which caused Jewish nationalism to rise.