The Siege of Masada
Overall, the way Rome administered the land of Judaea did not change much despite the rotation of emperors. Many of the changes occurred on the Jewish side as there were rumors rippling through the land of a Messiah to save them from foreign rule. This was nothing new as it had been going on for decades. To many, this Messiah had already come through the father of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth.
To those that did not accept him as the Messiah, impatience took over as more and more prophets declared that the time had come and a Messiah was near. The more the Romans squashed rumors and the small uprisings about this new Jewish leader, or king, the more resentment there was against Rome.
Just Waiting to Explode
All of this tension was simmering under the surface when Florus, the Roman governor, took the money from the Jewish Temple treasury to pay off back-taxes that were owed. Though from a legal sense this was not wrong, the Jews viewed it as outright theft from their God. It started as a small altercation but soon escalated to such heights that the governor had to flee Jerusalem.
The revolt was not supported by all within the Jewish community. The Jewish leaders saw the revolt as futile, but the passion was in the wind and could not be stopped. The fate of Jerusalem was sealed when the retreating Roman soldiers were…
