he Jews to be
obliged to go to a hated enemy for permission to carry out their
decrees we can well imagine; and we shall learn more of it in the next
chapter.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Look up in the Bible dictionary, Maccabees and Herod.

2. Read Hebrews 11. 32-40. Verses 33-38 are probably in large part a
description of the heroic martyrs before the Maccabees.

3. Was the Maccabean rule a failure because it did not last?

4. How did these rulers contribute to the great ends which Jews had
always dreamed of.

CHAPTER XXX

THE DISCONTENT OF THE JEWS UNDER ROMAN RULE

In spite of the fact that the Jews still had some power of
self-government through the Sanhedrin, the great mass of the people
hated the Romans with an almost inconceivable fury. The world had
never before seen such cruel rulers. The Assyrians had been bad, but
the Romans were worse. Think of that form of punishment which they
inflicted carelessly every day even for minor crimes--crucifixion! The
poor victim was nailed by the hands and feet to a pole and left to
hang in agony till death mercifully ended it all. Think of the
gladiatorial combats in the city of Rome and in other Roman cities,
where every day for centuries slaves or condemned criminals fought
each other with swords to the death, or fought with wild beasts while
the gloating multitudes looked on in rapture.

Moreover, not only were the Romans very cruel, they had no manners.
They were haughty in their bearing and took pains to let conquered
people know how thoroughly they were despised.

=Roman cruelty in Palestine.=--All these qualities were manifested
almost at their worst by the Roman rulers in Judaea and Galilee. Jesus
speaks of certain Galilaeans, "whose blood Pilate mingled with their
sacrifices." We know nothing of this incident except what Jesus tells.
Evidently, these Galilaeans had come as pilgrims to Jerusalem at the
time of one of the annual feasts. Possibly they did not salute with
sufficient respect the Roman eagles as they passed some squad of Roman
soldiers in the street. At any rate, they were taken before Pilate and
ruthlessly condemned to the slaughter.

=Roman taxes and the Publicans.=--Naturally, the thought of paying
taxes to such masters was almost unbearable. Yet each adult Jewish man
and woman was required to pay a personal or poll tax besides taxes on
his property or income. To make matters worse, the Romans were
accustomed to hire _Jews_ to collect th