Hey Minimalist

[A Theist]

But that doesn't mean Herod was on good terms with Pilate.

Antipas. Herod the Great was long dead by the time Pilate got to Judaea.

Again, Josephus was a member of a priestly family which means he was one of the nobility. I'll bet the priests had their knickers in a twist about the temple treasure being used to bring water to the city but what did the commons think? Recall that Tacitus recounts Roman rule of Judaea in this period in The Histories with a single sentence.

Under Tiberius all was quiet.

Book V, 9

Apparently, they were fine with it.

Antipas. Herod the Great was long dead by the time Pilate got to Judaea.

Yes. Antipas is who I meant. He's the one who divorced his wife and then married his brother's wife, Herodias. According to the Gospel accounts, Herod Antipas had John the Baptist executed when he condemned Herod's marriage to Herodius...Things were definitely prosperous under Tiberius which would probably account for his quiet reign as Emperor...and I think I would have to agree that they were fine with it as long as they had a certain amount of liberties and had enough food and drink....I don't think the Romans were the brutal rulers as some writers contemporary to the times have portrayed them, until they were crossed. The Romans certainly weren't as brutal as the Assyrians or the Babylonians. Wasn't Josephus a Roman collaborator and propagandist? I thought I read that somewhere.