Roman Takeover

Rome took control of Judea in −63, when the Roman general Pompey entered Jerusalem after being invited into the Hasmonean conflict. He captured the Temple Mount and entered the Holy of Holies, an act seen as a deep violation from a Jewish perspective. Judea was not immediately destroyed, but it lost true independence and became subject to Roman authority. The Roman takeover marked the end of Hasmonean sovereignty and the beginning of a long period of Roman influence, client kings, governors, heavy taxation, and growing tension between Jewish society and imperial rule.