Quote:The Jews hated being ruled by foreign heathen powers
That's the story but the story is what is under the microscope. The plain fact is that once you discount the bible bullshit you are left with the fact that the "jews" (whatever they were) spent the bulk of the first millenium BC under the rule of someone. Initially it was the Assyrians who controlled them as a vassal state until a brief rebellion by Hezekiah who got his ass kicked and the Assyrians resumed their overlordship until the Babylonians came along. BTW, their participation in the Assyrian economic system was a time of great prosperity for Judah. The Babylonians sacked and burned the city in 586 but they maintained control of the region until the Persians captured Babylon and inherited the Babylonian empire in 539. Persia retained control until Alexander came through in 332 and then it was either Alex, the Ptolemies or Seleucids (all Greeks ) until 141 when the Maccabaean revolt drove the Seleucids out. Finally, you have an independent "jewish" state under the Hasmoneans which lasted for a grand total of 78 years until Pompey the Great overran the whole area in 63 BC. The last 20 years of Hasmonean rule was a state of constant civil war/dynastic strife and would hardly have been regarded by anyone as some kind of golden age.
So, they may have "hated" foreign rule....but they sure as shit had enough practice at it.
