The Roman Empire and the Hellenistic World

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By the time Jesus was born, the Roman Empire dominated nearly all the lands that bordered the Mediterranean Sea. As the empire continued to conquer territories and expand its borders over the generations, the Jews spread throughout the Roman and Parthian empires.

Rome had legions stationed in Syria, which were sent to Judea to squash a revolt against the Herodians that arose upon the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C. As he had done with Herod, Augustus Caesar decided to control Palestine through a client king, a ruler who maintained order at his own personal expense. However, instead of having just one king over such a large territory, the emperor divided the province into regions among Herod’s surviving sons. Archelaus, the heir, received rulership over Judea, Samaria and Idumaea; however, Augustus removed him from power in A.D. 6, and transformed Judea into a larger Roman province, called Iudaea, coming under direct Roman rule.

Rome’s influence was felt throughout Palestine. Roman troops were garrisoned in Jerusalem and in other parts of the region. The people were heavily taxed. And with the empire came the spread of the Greek language and culture (plays, epic poems and philosophies pondering ethics, morality, the nature of reality, of God, and other thoughts of human reasoning). The empire consisted of peoples of foreign cultures, religions and languages who spoke and wrote Greek, akin to the way English is used today as an unofficial international language.

While Rome was quick to squash even the hint of rebellion and did not hesitate to use oppression to achieve its goals, Roman officials did permit the Jewish peoples certain liberties. For example, while inhabitants of other provinces served in their auxiliary forces, the Jews did not. And instead of having to participate in the imperial cult—the worship of dead emperors—the Jews were allowed to substitute a daily sacrifice in the Temple on behalf of the emperor and the Romans.

Nevertheless, Rome did on occasion try to introduce images of its emperors in Jerusalem—even in the Temple. These attempts were always met with staunch resistance, fuelled by religious fervour. Though they disagreed among themselves religiously, socially and politically, the Jews were determined to honour no other deity but the God of the Torah.

Ironically, the God they claimed to fear and worship was born among them—Jesus Christ—but they rejected Him and His teachings.

Samaritans and Other Gentiles

Among the inhabitants of Palestine were the Samaritans. When the Assyrian Empire conquered the house of Israel and deported them from Samaria, Assyria replaced the ten tribes with a mixed group of foreigners brought in from Babylon and other faraway lands. This mixed group settled into the largely empty cities of Samaria and racially integrated with the remnant of Israelites who still lived in the land. The inhabitants—who came to be called Samaritans—largely adopted a pseudo-religion, mixing the Old Testament practices of worshipping Israel’s God with the spiritual poison of pagan customs and traditions.

The Jews, upon returning to their homeland after being exiled in Babylon, refused the Samaritans’ offer of help in rebuilding the Temple. Subsequently, hostility arose between the two, with the Samaritans building a rival temple at Mount Gerizim (which was later destroyed), and then at Shechem. Their bitter rivalry continued through the years, and was evident during Christ’s earthly ministry, “for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9).

In Old Testament times, Gentiles were simply viewed as non-Israelites, and were not particularly despised for not having descended from Jacob (Israel). In fact, as soon as God delivered to Israel the Ten Commandments, He also proclaimed statutes—laws that expounded upon the commandments in addressing various areas of life. Among these, God instructed His people, “You shall neither vex a stranger [foreigner], nor oppress him” (Ex. 22:21) and “you shall not oppress a stranger: for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex. 23:9). As long as foreigners lived peaceably among the Israelites, were willing to observe God’s laws, and rejected the worship of idols and other pagan practices, God expected His people to treat the “strangers” among them with equity and justice.

However, after having suffered the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, seven decades of Babylonian exile, then ongoing persecution from foreigners who wanted to blot out their religion and Hellenize them, the Jews came to use the term “Gentile” with contempt. By New Testament times, they saw Gentiles as religiously unclean—therefore, it was considered wrong to associate or be friends with them. While Gentiles could become proselytes of the Judaic faith, they could not be full members. Consequently, there was no love lost among the Greeks and Romans for the Jewish peoples.

Herod Rebuilds the Temple

Herod the Great was a morally corrupt and ruthless client king for Rome, who did not hesitate to murder any enemies (both real and perceived) he thought might threaten his reign. He even had members of his own family put to death. This is the Herod who, in an effort to kill the Christ Child, “slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under” (Matt. 2:16). Herod was widely despised all throughout his 37 years of rule—and long after his death.

On the other hand, the Jews (begrudgingly) appreciated the ambitious public works projects he initiated throughout Palestine, such as the great amphitheatre in Caesarea and his refurbishing of Jerusalem’s Second Temple, expanding it on a monumental scale. This grand renovation project, which was to rival the greatest manmade wonders of the world, started in 20 B.C. and lasted more than 80 years.

Eight decades of building the Temple served to grow the local economy, as it employed workmen from construction and artisan guilds. It also served to unify the people in worshipping God (as opposed to the Greeks, Romans and other Gentiles honouring hundreds of idols and other false gods).

Yet the Temple also polarized the Jews, who were divided along religious and socio-political lines.

“The building itself was very small. The actual building of the Temple could fit inside the infield of any baseball stadium. However, the large structure all around it, the large plaza, the porticos, the columns, the staircases, all of that, were built up by Herod the Great on a monumental scale, filling up, I think something like ten football fields…So we have then a very large, very conspicuous, grandiose, grand…structure in the centre of Jerusalem which attracted pilgrims from near and far, both Jews and gentile” (“From Jesus to Christ,” PBS, Shaye I.D. Cohen, Samuel Ungerleider Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, Brown University).

The Temple was a centre of constant activity. It was operated by priests, who roasted animal sacrifices, splattered blood on the corners of the altar, and performed other religious rituals. Gentiles were provided a reserved area where they could worship God and bring offerings, which Levitical priests offered on their behalf, but only the chief priest could enter the innermost areas of the Temple.

The Levites, who assisted the priests, chanted verses from the book of Psalms. Every Sabbath, the Jews visited the Temple to listen to a reading of the Torah. Three seasons a year (Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost every spring, and the Feast of Tabernacles in the autumn), Jerusalem overflowed with visitors who had journeyed from the furthermost parts of the empire. Roman troops stationed in the region were brought in for crowd control and to maintain order. Hundreds of thousands of worshippers for Passover meant that tens of thousands of lambs needed to be properly selected and slaughtered. As a result, a rotation of extra priests was established.

“…the Temple played a large role in a collective religious mentality and a collective religion of the people, as a whole. Everybody realized that this was the one most sacred place on earth, the one place on earth where somehow heaven and earth meet, where somehow there is a telephone connection, perhaps we would say, between heaven and earth, where the earth rises up and heavens somehow descend just enough, that they just touch” (ibid.).

It should be briefly noted that three other Herods are mentioned in the Bible: Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa I and Herod Agrippa II. They are sometimes confused.

Herod Antipas, mentioned in Matthew 14:1-36, Mark 6:1-56 and Luke 23:1-56, was one of the many sons of Herod the Great. He became tetrarch (local governor) over Galilee and Peraea, and ruled from about 4 B.C. until A.D. 39. This was the Herod who ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded at the insistence of Herodias his brother’s wife (Matt. 14:3-11). He also mocked Christ during His trial (Luke 23:11).

Herod Agrippa I (discussed in Acts 12:1-25) was the grandson of Herod the Great, and nephew of Herod Antipas. He ruled from 37 to 44 A.D. as king over the entire region. He gradually gained control over the area Herod the Great had previously ruled by scheming against his own relatives with help from Emperor Caligula, who actually freed him from prison to help him consolidate power. This Herod killed James, the brother of John, with the sword (Acts 12:2).Acts 12:23 reveals his death was caused by being eaten of worms.

Herod Agrippa II, mentioned in Acts 25:1-25 and 26:32, began his reign in A.D. 44 and continued for a number of decades (scholars disagree on the actual date of his death). This was the Herod before whom the apostle Paul made his defence in about A.D. 58. Of all the Herods, Agrippa II was the most humane.

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