In spite of the fact that the Jews still had some power of self-government through the Sanhedrin, the great mass of the people hated the Romans with an almost inconceivable fury. The world had never before seen such cruel rulers. The Assyrians had been bad, but the Romans were worse. Think of that form of punishment which they inflicted carelessly every day even for minor crimes--crucifixion! The poor victim was nailed by the hands and feet to a pole and left to hang in agony till death mercifully ended it all. Think of the gladiatorial combats in the city of Rome and in other Roman cities, where every day for centuries slaves or condemned criminals fought each other with swords to the death, or fought with wild beasts while the gloating multitudes looked on in rapture.
Moreover, not only were the Romans very cruel, they had no manners. They were haughty in their bearing and took pains to let conquered people know how thoroughly they were despised.
=Roman cruelty in Palestine.=--All these qualities were manifested almost at their worst by the Roman rulers in Judæa and Galilee. Jesus speaks of certain Galilæans, "whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices." We know nothing of this incident except what Jesus tells. Evidently, these Galilæans had come as pilgrims to Jerusalem at the time of one of the annual feasts. Possibly they did not salute with sufficient respect the Roman eagles as they passed some squad of Roman soldiers in the street. At any rate, they were taken before Pilate and ruthlessly condemned to the slaughter.
=Roman taxes and the Publicans.=--Naturally, the thought of paying taxes to such masters was almost unbearable. Yet each adult Jewish man and woman was required to pay a personal or poll tax besides taxes on his property or income. To make matters worse, the Romans were accustomed to hire _Jews_ to collect these taxes, giving these men the right to extort whatever they could, provided the required tribute was paid to Rome. Of course all true Jews hated and despised these Jewish tax-gatherers or publicans even more than they hated and despised the Romans themselves.
There were some respectable Jews, indeed, as well as these tax-collectors, who favored the Romans. There were for example the Sadducees, a group of wealthy and aristocratic men, mostly priests, who formed a sort of political party called by this name. Many of them were members of the Sanhedrin. They were prosperous, and so long as their power was not taken away they sided with the Romans. It was nothing to them that the great mass of their poor fellow countrymen were being brutally and wickedly robbed and ill-treated.