Christian Texts and History • Re: Fernando Bermejo-Rubio

SETTING THE STAGE: THE EFFECTS OF THE ROMAN
CONQUEST AND THE LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY1

Nadav Sharon

A Neglected Era

Despite the enormous amount of scholarly work on the Second Temple
Period it seems to me that the period of 67–37 bce, and the dramatic change it brought upon Judea, have been somewhat neglected in modern historical study. The events of this period brought about the end of the eighty-year-old independent and sovereign Judean state, established by the Hasmoneans in the aftermath of Antiochus Epiphanes’ religious decrees and the ensuing revolt. In fact, these events resulted in the almost complete annihilation of that prestigious priestly house.
In 63 bce the independent Hasmonean state, with its large territorial gains, found itself suddenly under the domination of the expanding world empire, Rome, and downgraded to a small semiautonomous vassal state.

Admittedly, at some points during its subsequent history, when it had its own kings, this state enjoyed independence to a greater degree—under Herod the Great and, after a few decades, Agrippa I. However, these kings were none the less vassals, appointees of the Romans, and however one looks at them their kingdoms were very far from independent. (This is, of course, excluding the short-lived kingship of Mattathias Antigonus [40–37 bce], the last Hasmonean king, who was brought to power by the Parthians.) True, one might justifiably argue that objectively, in terms of independence, the situation after 63 bce was probably not any worse than it had been prior to the Hasmonean revolt, and was perhaps even better when those Herodian kings were in power. However, when seen subjectively, through the eyes of Judeans who had just enjoyed eighty years of independence, the events of 63 bce were probably perceived as not much less than a complete loss of independence.

https://utoronto.academia.edu/NadavSharon