Editing History of Israel (section)

===Early Roman period (64 BCE–2nd century CE)===
{{Main|Herodian dynasty|Herodian kingdom|Herodian Tetrarchy|Judea (Roman province)}}
[[File:Temple Scroll.png|thumb|upright|Portion of the [[Temple Scroll]], one of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] written by the Essenes]]
In 63 BCE, the [[Roman Republic]] conquered Judaea, ending Jewish independence under the Hasmoneans.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Martin |title=The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome, A.D. 66–70 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 |isbn=9780511552656 |pages=1–3, 9, 122 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511552656}}</ref> Roman general [[Pompey]] intervened in a [[Hasmonean civil war|dynastic civil war]] and, after [[Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC)|capturing Jerusalem]], reinstated [[Hyrcanus II]] as high priest but denied him the title of king.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Gabba |first=Emilio |title=The Early Roman Period |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139053662 |editor1-last=Horbury |editor1-first=William |series=The Cambridge History of Judaism |volume=3 |pages=94–98, 130, 133, 152 |chapter=The Social, Economic and Political History of Palestine 63 BCE–CE 70 |editor2-last=Davies |editor2-first=W. D. |editor3-last=Sturdy |editor3-first=John}}</ref> Rome soon installed the [[Herodian dynasty]]—of [[Idumean]] descent but Jewish by conversion—as a loyal replacement for the nationalist Hasmoneans.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Shaye J. D. |title=From Maccabees to Mishnah |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-664-23904-6 |edition=3rd |location=Louisville, Kentucky |pages=3–4}}</ref> In 37 BCE, [[Herod the Great]], the first [[Client kingdoms in ancient Rome|client king]] of this line, took power after defeating the restored Hasmonean king [[Antigonus II Mattathias]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book |title=The First Jewish Revolt: Archaeology, History, and Ideology |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-62024-6 |editor1-last=Berlin |editor1-first=Andrea M. |pages=1–3 |chapter=Introduction |editor2-last=Overman |editor2-first=J. Andrew}}</ref> Herod imposed heavy taxes, suppressed opposition, and centralized authority, which fostered widespread resentment.<ref name=":0" /> Herod also carried out major monumental construction projects throughout his kingdom, and significantly expanded the [[Second Temple]], which he transformed into one of the largest religious structures in the ancient world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Feissel |first=Denis |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: Volume 1 1/1: Jerusalem, Part 1: 1–704 |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-11-174100-0 |editor1-last=Cotton |editor1-first=Hannah M. |location=Berlin |page=41 |oclc=840438627 |editor2-last=Eck |editor2-first=Werner |editor3-last=Heimbach |editor3-first=Marfa |editor4-last=Isaac |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor5-last=Kushnir-Stein |editor5-first=Alla |editor6-last=Misgav |editor6-first=Haggai}}</ref> After his death in 4 BCE, his kingdom was divided among his sons into a [[Herodian tetrarchy|tetrarchy]] under continued Roman oversight.<ref name=":3" />

In 6 CE, Roman emperor [[Augustus]] transformed [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judaea]] into a [[Roman province]], deposing its last Jewish ruler, [[Herod Archelaus]], and appointing a Roman governor in his place.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> That same year, a [[Census of Quirinius|census]] triggered a small uprising by [[Judas of Galilee]], the founder of a movement that rejected foreign authority and recognized only God as king.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> Over the next six decades, with the brief exception of a short period of Jewish autonomy under the client king [[Herod Agrippa|Herod Agrippa I]],<ref name=":0" /> the province remained under direct Roman administration. Some governors ruled with brutality and showed little regard for Jewish religious sensitivities, deepening resentment among the local population.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Freyne |first=Sean |title=The First Jewish Revolt: Archaeology, History and Ideology |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-62024-6 |editor1-last=Berlin |editor1-first=Andrea M. |location=London and New York |pages=45–47 |chapter=The Revolt from a Regional Perspective |editor2-last=Overman |editor2-first=J. Andrew}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> This discontent was also fueled by poor governance, corruption, and growing economic inequality, along with rising tensions between Jews and neighboring populations over ethnic, religious, and territorial disputes.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /> At the same time, collective memory of the Maccabean revolt and the period of Hasmonean independence continued to inspire hopes for national liberation from Roman control.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Mendels |first=Doron |title=The Rise and Fall of Jewish Nationalism: Jewish and Christian Ethnicity in Ancient Palestine |publisher=Doubleday |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-385-26126-5 |series=Anchor Bible Reference Library |pages=26}}</ref>

In 64 CE, the Temple High Priest [[Joshua ben Gamla]] introduced a religious requirement for Jewish boys to learn to read from the age of six. Over the next few hundred years this requirement became steadily more ingrained in Jewish tradition.<ref>The Chosen Few: How education shaped Jewish History, Botticini and Eckstein, Princeton 2012, page 71 and chapters 4 and 5</ref>