By April 8, 2008 Read More →

Judea Under the Procurators

Bust of ClaudiusExcerpted from Lawrence H. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ, 1991.

After his death, Herod’s kingdom was divided in three. The largest part, comprising Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea, was placed under the rule of his son Archelaus, who was appointed ethnarch. (Antipas and Philip received territories in the north and were made tetrarchs.) Immediately, a revolt against Archelaus broke out in Judea, as the people found him brutal and his tyrannical rule intolerable. In 6 C.E. he was deposed by the Romans and the country was reorganized as a Roman province.

Thus began the period of the Roman governors. These officials are customarily called procurators by modern scholars, but initially their true title was prefect, and it was only during the reign of the emperor Claudius (41–54 C.E.) that the term procurator came into use to designate them.

Since the garrison stationed in Judea was made up only of auxiliary troops, the procurators were dependent on the legions of the governor of Syria, who accordingly functioned as their immediate superior. Under procuratorial rule the Jews were granted substantial autonomy and were allowed to maintain their own courts and to arrange for the collection of taxes. In matters of religion and worship the procurators did not interfere with Jewish practice.

The early procurators seemed to govern wisely and peacefully. With the appointment of Pontius Pilate (26–36 C.E.), the procurator who executed Jesus, conflict and bloodshed began. From that point on relations deteriorated for a number of reasons- Roman insensitivity to Jewish religious requirements, high taxes, the stationing of troops in Jerusalem, and the rising messianic yearnings of the Jews. Problems escalated during the reign of the emperor Caligula (37–41 C.E.), who demanded that the Jews erect an image of him in the Temple. His timely death prevented a tragic and violent confrontation between Rome and the Jewish people.

Soon after his accession as emperor in 41 B.C.E., Claudius (41–54) C.E. appointed Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod and Mariamme, as king of the entire Land of Israel. From 41 to 44 Judea was no longer a province but functioned again as a kingdom. Agrippa loved his people and their ancestral way of life, and sought, within the limits imposed on client states by the Roman Empire, to renew the ancient glory of Israel. He enjoyed widespread support among the Jews, who gave him the same respect and devotion they had given the Hasmoneans, but the non-Jewish residents of the land were arrayed against him.

When Agrippa unexpectedly died, the Romans judged his son too young to succeed him and returned Judea to procuratorial rule. From this point on, there was constant strife between the procurators and their Jewish subjects. The Roman officials displayed little concern either for Judaism and its dictates or for the economic well-being of the country. Economic decline proceeded quickly, as did the activities of the growing rebel factions. Anarchy was fast approaching, and soon the nation would be aflame with rebellion and then destruction.

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