Why was there unrest in Judea after it came under Roman rule?

Answer 1

Roman rule in Judea began in 63BCE, when Pompey captured Jerusalem. Judea under the Maccabeans had extended the territory of Judea by conquest, but Pompey returned the north and some coastal settlements to the Syrian province, confining Judea to the lands of the Jewish people.

The real problem began when Rome installed Herod as King of a once-again enlarged Judea in 37 BCE. Ethnically, Herod was an Idumaean and although nominally a Jew, was also reported as celebrating to a pagan god, while his court was largely composed of Gentiles. In summary, King Herod was hated by the Jews, who sought opportunities to rid themselves of him.

When Herod died in 4 BCE, Jerusalem and Judea passed to his unpopular and incompetent son, Archelaus, and the disturbances that this aroused were violently suppressed by the Romans.

In 6 CE, Archelaus was sent into exile and Judea was transformed into a Roman province governed by prefects or procurators. Jerusalem was replaced as capital by the pagan city of Caesarea, another move that would have angered the Jews.

The situation in Judea deteriorated after the appointment of Gessius Florus as procurator in 64 CE - the year of the Great Fire of Rome. Florus was apparently given orders, like the rest of Nero's tax-collectors around the Empire, to raise as much revenue as possible. In April 66, the Jews rioted in Caesarea and paraded through Jerusalem with an effigy of Florus dressed as a beggar asking for alms. The Procurator responded to this insult by leading an inadequate force to Jerusalem, to punish the ring-leaders. Faced by thousands of angry Jews, he promptly retreated back to Caesarea, leaving one cohort and the small permanent garrison behind. The cohort negotiated its own terms of departure, but when the troops emerged on the promise of free passage, they were massacred.