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At the end of last class, we left off at the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. The Romans started ruling in 63 BCE after the Hasmonean’s became corrupt and insensitive to the Jewish traditions. This time period, Jerusalem under Roman rule, was called the reign of Herod, or Jesus' Jerusalem because, Herod the Great ruled over Jerusalem. He was crowned the ethnarch, or the ruler of the Jew’s which was rare because he was only a half- Jew. In fact, his parents were forcibly turned Jewish by the Hasmoneons. While Herod is depicted in the Bible as being harsh and tyranistic, he nonetheless, he was known to be a good ruler who was a good politian- sensitive to Jews and collected taxes for the Romans. However, Herod became paranoid and impulsive, which was good for Rome, but made Herod hated by Jews because he took the negative publicity from the Jewish people.

He ruled from 37-4 BCE. He economically and religiously supported Jerusalem. He expanded the Jewish holy site, rebuilt the Temple, improved Jerusalem's economic welfare, improved the water system, provided a place of refuge with the Citadel of David, built Herodin (a huge hill with a palace on it) and also somewhat respected all religious Jewish views. He was definitely not believed to be the true messiah. Herod is also believed to have ordered the death of all children two years old and under to protect his power from a new "king of the Jews." This baby king was believed in the Bible to be Jesus. Yet, there is no evidence for the belief that Jesus was the Son of God or that he actually existed.