Coin of Agrippa II, 60 C. E.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE LAST PROCURATORS.
| Roman Emperors and Procurators. | Jewry. | ||
| YEAR. | YEAR. | ||
| Claudius | 41 | ||
| Fadus | 4 | ||
| Tiberius Alexander | 45 | Theudas the Messiah | 45 |
| Ventidius Cumanus | 48 | ||
| Felix | 52 | ||
| Nero | 54 | Death of Philo | 55 |
| Festus | 60 | ||
| Albinus | 62 | ||
| Gessius Florus | 66 | Josephus Gov. of Galilee | 66 |
Agrippa's death was a signal for general indignities by Greeks and Romans throughout Palestine against the people who had lost their defender. Burdensome taxation alone would have been borne; but each in turn of the second group of procurators placed over them seemed actuated by the wanton purpose of trampling upon everything the Jews held sacred, holding their religion up to scorn, and forcing them into rebellion through the madness of despair.
Fadus, the first of the second group, was the most harmless. A deluded enthusiast named Theudas claiming to be the Messiah and to be gifted with supernatural powers, was apprehended and put to death together with many of his followers.
The Zealots.
Tiberius Alexander, the next procurator, was a nephew of Philo, but unlike his uncle, had abandoned Judaism, and therefore was a very unfit appointee. He found it necessary to put to death two sons of the Zealot Judas, the Galilean. These Zealots already briefly referred to were a group of irreconcilables that at times resorted to desperate remedies. They were the advance guard of a revolution. Rebellions continued to grow in gravity with each successive rule. During the administration of Ventidius Cumanus a rebellion broke out through the wanton indecency of a Roman soldier during the Passover celebration. In putting down the insurrection Cumanus ordered many thousands slain. On another occasion the Zealots started to lead an attack against Samaria to punish the murder of some of their brethren, for the base Cumanus allowed marauders to rove unmolested on the payment of sufficient bribe. Against the Zealots, however, he led an army, for their offenses were political, not moral. Through the intervention of young Agrippa, Cumanus was banished.