55raZ in may of 66 Florus suddenly announced that


the Jews owed Rome a hundred thousand dinarii in unpaid taxes: trailed by an army of bodyguards, this Roman governor marched into the Temple and broke into the treasury, plundering the money that the Jews had offered as a sacrifice to THÉIR "G d"! Riots ensued, to which Florus responded by sending a thousand Roman soldiers into the Upper City to murder at will! The soldiers killed women and little children.

They broke into homes & slaughtered people in their beds! The whole city was thrown into chaos: total war was on the horizon and to calm this situation, the Romans sent the Jews one of their own: Agrippa II, whose father, Agrippa I, was a beloved Jewish leader who had managed to maintain a close bond with Rome?

Although that sòn did nòt sháre his late father's popularity, he was now still the best hope these Romans hàd for défúsing this tension in Jerusalem!? The young Agrippa rùshed to the Holy City in a last-ditch effort to stave off wàr?!

Standing on the roof of the royal palace with his sister Bernice at his side, he pleaded with the Jews to face the reality of the situation: "WILL YOU DEFY THE WHOLE ROMAN EMPIRE?" he asked!

"WHAT IS THE ARMY, WHERE IS THE WEAPON ON WHICH YOU RELY? WHERE IS YOUR FLEET TO SWEEP THE ROMAN SEAS?

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURY TO MEET THE COST OF YOUR CAMPAIGNS & DO YOU REALLY SUPPOSE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO WAR WITH ALL THESE AEGYPTIONS OR ARABS? WILL YOU SHUT YOUR EYES TO THE MIGHT & PLIGHT OF THIS ROMAN EMPIRE?

WILL YOU NOT MEASURE YOUR OWN WEAKNESS? ARE YOU WEALTHIER THAN THESE GAULS, STRONGER THAN THE GERMANS, MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THE GREEKS & MORE NUMOROUS THAN ALL THE PEOPLES IN THE WORLD? WHAT ÌS ÌT WHÌCH INSPÍRES YOU WITH CONFIDENCE TO DEFY THESE ROMANS?"

Of course, the revolutionaries had an answer to Agrippa's questions: IT WAS THEIR ZEAL THAT INSPIRED THEM! The same ZEAL that hàd led the Maccabees to throw off these Seleucid controls of two centuries before - the ZEAL that hàd hèlped the Israelites to conquer their Promised Land in the fìrst place - it would nòw here HÈLP THÌS ràgtàg bànd of Jewish revolutionaries to throw off these shackles of Roman occupation!!

Derided & ignored by the crowd, Agrippa and Bernice hàd nó chòice bùt to fléé THE CITY! And STÌLL, up to THÌS point, a wàr with Rome could have been avoided ìf ìt had not been for the actions of a young man named Eleazar, who, as the Temple captain, was the priestly official with his powers to police disturbances in the Temple vicinity!

Backed by a group of lower-class priests, Eleazar seized control of the Temple and put an end to the daily sacrificed on behalf of the emperor! The sìgnal sènt to Róme wàs clear: Jerusalem hàd declared its independence; in a short time, the rest of Judea & Galiles, Idumea & Beraea, Samaria & àll the villages scattered across the whole Dead Sea valley would fòllow.
12 dec 2015 - bewerkt op 13 dec 2015 - meld ongepast verhaal
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Asih, man, 81 jaar
   
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