Quote:The ancient Jews were living under Roman oppression.
Were they? Because in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius the Jews had it pretty good. They were exempt from certain taxes and military obligations. When the Jews petitioned Augustus to remove Archelaus and become a Roman Prefecture ( 6 AD) Augustus agreed. The country was prospering as part of the empire and after Herod built Caesarea they were part of the commercial links to the rest of the empire. They had a measure of home rule as the Prefect made his headquarters in Caesarea and the high priest and sanheddrin were allowed to handle local matters in Jerusalem. Finally when large scale rioting broke out in Alexandria it was because the Greco-Roman citizens were angry at the Jews' special treatment.
Just where was all this "oppression?"