s, as they
were in another engagement with sixty thousand Syrians at Hebron. Judas
entered Jerusalem, and repaired and cleansed the temple. Thus the
Maccabean period was ushered in. After some further fighting, Judas
was slain, and Simon, the only surviving brother, succeeded him, and
Jerusalem was practically independent. His son, John Hyrcanus, was the
next ruler. The Pharisees and Sadducees now come prominently into Jewish
affairs. The Essenes also existed at this time, and dressed in white.
After some time (between 65-62 B.C.), Pompey, the Roman general, entered
the open gates of the city, but did not capture the citadel for three
weeks, finally taking advantage of the day of Pentecost, when the Jews
would not fight. The Roman period began with the slaughter of twelve
thousand citizens. Priests were slain at the altar, and the temple was
profaned. Judaea became a Roman province, and was compelled to pay
tribute.

Herod the Great became governor of Galilee, and later the Roman senate
made him king of Judaea. He besieged Jerusalem, and took it in 37 B.C.
"A singular compound of good and bad--mostly bad--was this King Herod."
He hired men to drown a supposed rival, as if in sport, at Jericho
on the occasion of a feast, and in the beginning of his reign he
slaughtered more than half of the members of the Sanhedrin. The aged
high priest Hyrcanus was put to death, as was also Mariamne, the wife
of this monster, who was ruling when the Messiah was born at Bethlehem.
Herod was a great builder, and it was he who reconstructed the temple on
magnificent lines. He also built Caesarea, and rebuilt Samaria. After
his death, the country was divided and ruled by his three sons. Achelaus
reigned ingloriously in Jerusalem for ten years, and was banished.
Judaea was then ruled by procurators, Pilate being the fifth one of
them, ruling from A.D. 26-36. In the year A.D. 65 the Jews rebelled
against the Romans, after being their subjects for one hundred and
twenty-two years. They were not subdued until the terrible destruction
of the Holy City in A.D. 70, when, according to Josephus, one million
one hundred thousand Jews perished in the siege, two hundred and
fifty-six thousand four hundred and fifty were slain elsewhere, and one
hundred and one thousand seven hundred prisoners were sold into bondage.
The Temple was completely destroyed along with the city, which for sixty
years "lay in ruins so complete that it is doubtful whether there