Hey Minimalist

[A Theist]

And according to Book 18 of Antiquities of the Jews, Antipas had JtheB killed for being a troublemaker AND notes the divorce/marriage and subsequent military movements BUT he does not connect the two events.

And yes, Judaea did well under Augustus and Tiberius and things only started to go down the toilet when Caligula ordered Publius Petronius to erect a statue of the emperor in the temple. Petronius was smart enough to dally until Caligula was killed but Caligula also withdrew certain exemptions the Jews had enjoyed and those were not restored.

But yes, in general, during the first third of the first century, this is pretty much on target.

There seems to have been a lot going on at that time.
John the Baptist certainly disrupted the religious order and the traditions of the Pharisees with his preaching. There were also stirrings and unrest by groups of Jewish Zealots who would assassinate Roman collaborators . I can see where JtheB could have been feared as a troublemaker at the time, especially when he criticized the leaders of the established religious order and also against Antipas' marriage to Herodius, probably being the last straw.

Caligula was sadistic and certainly possessed traits of a socio-path. For Caligula, being Emperor was one big party and he had no qualms about using his position for corruption and to commit murder on a whim. I would think that he would top out as Rome's most evil and inept Emperor. Nero was bad and he was shrewed, but I don't think he compared to Caligula. It was also speculated that Caligula was so evil because his Uncle, the Roman Emperor Tiberius, had not only sexually molested him, but also had murdered Caligula's father and other members of his family. Caligula experienced all this as a youth.