In 54 B.C., Licinius Crassus plundered the temple which Pompey had piously spared; his ill-gotten gains are said to have amounted to 1Y2,000,000. He fell shortly afterwards in the war against the Parthians, and his companion, Cassius Longius, succeeded in completely routing Aristobul's army.
Yleanwhile, the war between Caesar and Pompey broke out. In Syria, the partisans of the latter were numerous, and contrived to poison Aristobulus, and execute his son Alexander, who were Cmsareans (49 B.c.). After the death of Pompey, however, things changed; and Hyrcanus, or rather Antipater the Idumean (who was both his minister and maTter), saw the necessity of securing the favor of Cesar. With Hyrcanus ended the line of Asmonean, princes: they exercised (nominally) supreme authority both in the civil and religions affairs of PaleAine, i.e., they were both sovereigns and high priests; but, as we have already indicated, the real religious authority had passed into the hands of the priesthood, and especially of the Sanhedrim (q.v.). The Idgonea dynasty, which succeeded the Asmonean, virtually commenced with Antipater, who prevailed on Cmsar to restrict Hyrcanus to the high-priesthood, and obtained for him self the office of procurator of Judma, while his eldest son Phazael was appointed gov ernor of Jerusalem, and his younger son Herod governor of Galilee. The Jewish or national party took the alarm at this sudden increase of Idumean power; strife ensued; and ultimately Antipater perished by poison; but Herod, by the assistance of the Romans, finally entered Jerusalem in triumph (37 B.c.), caused Antigonus, the last male representative of the Asmonean line, and his most dangerous enemy, to be put to death, and commenced the difficult task of governing a people who were growing more and more unruly every day. The political events which occurred the government of the Ilerods are briefly touched upon under the heads Herod (q.v.), Agrippa (q.v.), and Antipater (q.v.).
After Herod's death (3 B.c.), Arehelaus, one of his sons, ruled Judtea and Samaria; but his arbitrariness, and still more his constant attacks upon religion, made him hateful to the people; and Augustus, listening to their just complaints, deprived him of his power, and banished him to Vienne (6 A.D.). Judea was now thrown together with Syria, and was'ruled by Roman governors.
In the year 38 A.D., the emperor Caligula issued an edict ordering divine honors to be paid to himself. Everywhere throughout the Roman dominions the Jews refused to obey. At Alexandria a frightful massacre took place, and for a moment it seemed as if the whole of the inhabitants of Judea, too, Were doomed to perish; but Herod Agrippa I. (q.v.), tetrarch of northern Palestine, and a friend of Caligula dissuaded the emperor from carrying out his barbarous design. About the same time, the Babylonian Jews became involved in a quarrel with the Parthians, and were slaughtered in vast numbers. The accession of Claudius, on the assassination of Caligula, seemed, how ever, the dawn of a for them. Herod Agrippa, a loyal friend and favorite of the new emperor, obtained anew the dominion over all the parts once ruled by his grandfather Herod, and many privileges were through his influence granted to his Jew ish subjects, and even to foreign Jews. They received the rights of Roman citizenship (41 A.D.), and Herod even tried to conciliate their religious prejudices by the strictness with which he observed their law (a circumstance, we may say, in passing, that will account for his persecution of the Christians); yet the national party remained malcon tent, and in an almost permanent state of mutiny. After the death of Herod Agrippa 1. (his son being but a youth of seventeen) the country was again subjected to Roman governors. The confusion soon became indescribable. The whole land was overrun with robbers and assassins, some of whom professed to be animated by religious motives (such as the Sicarii), while others were mere ruffianly freebooters and cut-throats; the antipathy between Jews and Samaritans waxed fiercer and fiercer, and the latter waylaid and murdered the orthodox Gallleans as they went up to worship at Jerusalem; all sorts of impostors, fanatics, and pretenders to magic made their appearance; the priesthood was riven by dissensions; the hatred between the populace and the Roman soldiery (mostly of Graco-Syrian origin), and under the commands of cruel procurators, such as Albinius and Florus, increased; frightful portents (according to Josephus) appeared in the heavens, until, in 66 A.D.. in spite of all the precautionary efforts taken by Agrippa. the party of Zealots, 1.e., the Sicarii or Assassins, burst into open rebellion,
which, after a horrible carnage (Josephus calculates the number killed at 1,356,460), was terminated (70 A.D.) by the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus, the destruction of the tem ple, and the massacre and banishment of hundreds of thousands of the unhappy people, who were scattered among their brethren in all parts of the world. The defense of Jerusalem (as narrated by Josephus) is one of the most magnificent and melancholy examples of 'mingled heroism and insanity that the world affords. Still, very consider able numbers were allowed to remain in their native country, and for the next thirty years, although both hated and treated with rigor, they appear, on the whole, to have flourished. The emperor Nerva was as lenient to them as to the rest of his subjects; but as soon as they had attained some measure of political vitality, their turbulent and fanatical spirit broke out anew. Their last attempts to throw off the Roman yoke, at Cyrene (115 A.D.). Cyprus (116 A.D.), Mesopotamia (118 A.D.), and Palestine, under Bar Cocbba (q.v.), (130 A.D.), were defeated after enormous and almost incredible butchery. The suppression of Bar-Cochba's insurrection (135 A. D.) marks the final desolation of Judea, and the dispersion of its inhabitants. Talmud and Midrash (especially ilfidrash Rehr) appear to exhaust even eastern extravagance in describing what followed the cap ture of Bither—the great stronghold of the Jews. The whole of Judea was made like a desert, about 985 towns and villages lay in ashes, 50 fortresses were razed to the ground: the name of Jerusalem itself was changed into .:-ire Cain: lint, and a heathen colony settled in the city, from entering which every .Jew was strictly debarred. The hardships to which the unfortunate race were subjected were again alleviated in the reign of Antoninus Pius. whom the Jewish writers represent as secretly attached to their religion (see Jost's Geschichte der Liweliten, etc.), and better times seemed in store for ti* home less exiles. Alexander Severus also placed Abraham on the same divine level as he did Christ, and obtained from the grateful people the title of "father of the synagogue." Heliogabalus, among his many senseless whims, patronized various Jewish practices, such as circumcision and abstinence from swine's flesh; and generally speaking, from the close of the 2d c. till the establishment of Christianity under Constantine (330 A.D.), when their hopes were once more dashed to the ground, the Jews of the Roman empire appear to have thriven astonishingly. In this period falls the redaction of the chief code and basis of the "Oral Law." the Mishna (q.v.) completed by Jehuda Hanassi (the prince), or Ilakkadosh (the saint), president of the great school at Tiberias (220): upon which code were grafted subsequently the two gigantic commentaries or complements, the Palestinian and the Babylonian Gemaras (q.v.). The Babylonian Jews were even more fortunate than their western brethren, thou Ph they did not perhaps attain the meridian of their prosperity till the revival of the 'Persian, on the downfall of the Par titian empire. Their leader was called " The Prince of the Captivity" (lies/ Gelutita). and was chosen from among those held to be descended from the house of David.. He lived in great splendor, assumed among his own people the style of a monarch (though extremely submissive to the Parthian or Persian ruler), had a bodyguard, counselors, cup-bearers, etc.; his subjects were, many of them, at least, extremely wealthy, and pursued all sorts of industrial occupations. They were merchants, bankers, artisans, husbandmen, and shepherds; and in particular had the reputation...oLbeing_tligatest weavers of the (ben famous Babylonian garments. In fact, was quite an iirez in possessed a thoroughly sacerdotal or at least theocratic character. The reputation for learning of the Babylonian schools„..Nahardea, _Sulu, and Pumbeditha, was 'very grcat....—What was their condition .at this time further east we cannot tell, butit Seeffis quite certain that they bad obtained a footing in China, if not before the time of Christ, at least during the 1st century. They were first discovered by the Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century. They did not appear ever to have heard of Christ, but thay possessed the book of Ezra, and retained, on the whole, a very decided nationalism of creed and character. From their language, it was inferred that they had come originally from Persia. At one time, they would appear to have been highly honored in China, and to have held the highest civil and military offices.