i was introduced by them. Soon after his accession in A.D. 14 to the throne of the Empire. Tiberius adopted the jxdicy of lengthening the term of servic-e in these provincial apixiintments, in the hoi>e of protecting the people from rapacity, by
! affording the governors a longer period over which to spread their exactions. The tlieorj' Mas not a compliment to this class of officials, and did not work well in Juda-a. Of the athuinistration of Valerius Gratus the least that can be said is that it was meddling. In eleven years he changed the high priest four times, and the changes would
I have been more fre«iuent but for the temporizing
' character of the man (Joseph Caiaphas) upon whom his final choice lighted. The example of oppres- sion in Rome, whence the .Jews were expelled by Imperial edict, was imitated so closely in Juda*a, that several deputations were sent to Tiberius to protest against the masterfulness and avarice of
I his representative, with little other result than that of additions to the army of occupation.
A similar jxilicy of oppression was adopted by Pilate, who exceeded his predecessor in resent- ment, but whose Wolence was apt to collap.se in the presence of a stubbornness greater than his own. His first act was characteristic alike of his contempt for precedents and of his doc-ility when opposed. The new trooi>s destined for the garrison of Jerusalem were ordered not, as before, to leave at Caesarea the medallions of the Emj>eror that were attache<l to the military- standards, but to proceed in full equipment to their quarters in the Castle of Antonia, To the Jews the sacrilege ap- peared of the Morst kind, as invohing them in the crime of idolatry (Ex 2(^1. From all i>arts of the country people flocked to Ca?.sarea. and, disdaining the threat of massacre, extorted from the procura- tor, by their sui>erior resolution, an order for the removal of the medallions. ThLs bad beginning was followed by an equally bitter quarrel over the restoration of an aqueduct that brought Avater to Jerusalem (cf. Lk 13^). The scheme Mas of the utmost value to the city, as the sujiply of Mater conveyed through an older aqueduct at a higher level Mas proA^ing instiificient ; but the offence Mas that Pilate proi>osed to throM- the c-ost ui>on the Temple treasury, and actually seized .some of the sacred funds. A riot Mas anticipated ; but the sol- diers, dressed as citizens, were distributed among the croM-d, and at a given signal tumeti their Meajxjns against the |>eople. The scheme Mas pro- ceeded with, and the ix»pular hatred grcM- savage. So much did Pilate disregard JeMlsh sentiment, that certain Galiljeans Mere put to death in the Temple, and their blood mingled Mith that of the sacrific-es (Lk 13M. By taking a prominent part in an insurrection, Barabl<as endeared himself to the people (Mk 15", Lk 23'^). On the death of Sejanus, in A.D. 31, Tilierius assumed a more friendly atti- tude toM-ards the Jcms; and, soon after Vitellius added the legateship of Syria to his other high commands (a.d. 35), he found it nec-essary to inter- fere. Pilate Mas ordered to proceed to Rome to ansMer for the Manton cruelty of his administra- tion, and Marcellus Mas entnisted pro\-isionally M-ith the duties of the procuratorship.
6. Administration, military and ciYil.— In Syria, as in Eg^pt, m ere regularly stationed three or four legions, to Mhich recourse could be had in any emergency : but the ordinary garri-*on of Palestine consisted of auxiliaries, raised i>artially amongst the non-JeM-i.sh inhabitants of the country. The .JeMs Mere generally exempted at the time from military serAice, on acc*ount of their temperament and religious usages. The garrison Mas distributed over the country in such a May as to make itself everj'M-here felt. At Cjesarea, the headquarters, Mas a force of three thousand men, of Mhom five-
380
POLITICAL COXDITIOXS
POPULARITY
sixths Avere infantry. A cohort of five or six hun- dred infantry, with a detachment of cavalry and a body of spearmen or slingers (Ac 23^^), was quar- tered in the fortress of Antonia. Smaller garrisons occupied Jericho, Maehjerus, Samaria, and any other centre whence an important district could be commanded. There is no evidence of the exist- ence of a police corps apart from the soldiery, though a secret-service system upon a large scale was maintained by Herod, and probably also by tlie procurators. The military were employed in keeping order, in the arrest of persons under sus- picion (Jn 18'-), in guarding prisoners (Mt 27"'), and in superintending the execution of a sentence (Jn 19-^). Use was sometimes made of the officers of the local courts and of the armed retinue of the native dignitaries (Mt 26^^). The Temple police were under the command of a captain of high rank, who probably controlled also the officers of the Sanhedrin ; and these functionaries were recog- nized and supported within limits by the militarj' authorities. Tliere are traces also of the ex- istence of a body of paid spies or secret police under Jewish control (Lk 20-*, Mt 22i6, Mk 12'3). In the provincial towns and rural districts order was kept as in Jerusalem ; the administration acted tlirough the local courts and organizations, Avith soldiers at hand when needed. See also art. Police.
Ta.xation was of two kinds — Imperial and pro- vincial. A poll-tax and a tax on landed property were collected by the procurator, and the produce remitted to Rome (Mt 22^'). Custom duties and market tolls were collected by lessees, who paid for the privilege a fixed yearly sum, destined in the case of Juthea for the Imperial treasury, but in that of Galilee for the tetrarch. Besides these regular imposts, an arbitrary procurator might enrich himself by a variety of exactions, as the penalties of imagined ottences or the condition of official support ; but in Judaea the expenses of administration were met by authorized deduction from the revenue of the taxes and tolls. Economic- ally tlie province was poor, though a few courtiers and ecclesiastical dignitaries were of great wealth. So heavy was the incidence of taxation, that in A.D. 17 a deputation was sent to Rome to plead for relief. Sixteen years later, the entire Empire was visited by a financial crisis so severe that bank- ruptcies multiplied bej'ond enumeration, and even some of the public treasuries suspended payments in cash. In this general distress Syria and Palestine shared, though the busy industrial centres in Galilee did not suffer so much as the crowded and unem- ployeil population around Jerusalem.