The Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. This brought the region under Roman control, though they used local leaders to govern. The most famous was a ruthless military commander named Herod the GreatKing over Judea at the time of Jesus' birth. (37-4 B.C.E.). Herod transformed the country. He built the port of Caesarea on the coast and a templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... to AugustusRoman emperor at the time of Jesus' birth. in Samaria. He remodeled the Jerusalem temple and next to it built the Antonia fortress, a Roman military installation.
After Herod’s death in 4 B.C.E., his son Herod AntipasKing over Galilee who executed John the Baptist and mocked Jesus before the crucifixion. ruled Galilee in the north. He is the Herod mentioned in accounts of Jesus’ ministry. Another son ruled the south until 6 C.E., when the Romans began sending their own governors to Judea. Pontius PilateThe Roman governor who condemned Jesus to death. was one of these. The Romans used local agents to collect taxes. The agents made a profit by adding their own fees, which made most people resent them.
The Jewish people administered their own internal affairs. The high priests oversaw worship in the temple and the council or Sanhedrin adjudicated matters of Jewish law. Pilgrims throughout the empire came to worship in the Jerusalem temple.
One Jewish group was the Pharisees, who adopted the highest standards for purity in their homes. Devoted interpreters of Jewish law, they also valued the prophets, other writings, and oral tradition. They believed there would be a resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees were a priestly group that used the law but not the other writings and did not believe in resurrection. Essenes lived in separate communities, including the one where the Dead Sea ScrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient scrolls discovered in the mid-20th century in caves near an archaeological site called Qumran were found. They followed distinctive standards for purity and considered the temple leadership to be corrupt. Zealots sought to regain Jewish independence from Rome.
Resistance to Roman rule led to open conflict in 66 C.E. War raged for several years until the Romans recaptured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70 C.E. Afterward, some Jews formed an academy near the Mediterranean coast. They developed interpretations of the law that allowed Jewish life to continue even though temple sacrificeSacrifice is commonly understood as the practice of offering or giving up something as a sign of worship, commitment, or obedience. In the Old Testament grain, wine, or animals are used as sacrifice. In some New Testament writings Jesus' death on the cross as the... was not possible. By the second century C.E., they identified the books in the current Hebrew Bible or Protestant Old Testament to be authoritative Scripture. A second Jewish revolt against Roman rule occurred in 132-135 C.E. under the leadership of Simon “bar Kochba.” This also resulted in Jewish defeat, and Roman rule over the region continued in subsequent centuries.