The principle of interfering as little as possible with the
religious liberty of the Jews was rudely assailed by the Emperor
Caius, who like a second Antiochus, after various minor vexations,
gave orders that his image should be set up in the temple of
Jerusalem as in others elsewhere. It was entirely through the
courage and tact of the Syrian governor P. Petronius that the
execution of these orders was temporarily postponed until the
emperor was induced by Agrippa I. to withdraw them. Caius soon
afterwards died, and under the rule of Agrippa I., to whom the
government of the entire kingdom of his grandfather was committed
by Claudius, the Jews enjoyed much prosperity; in every respect
the king was all they could wish. This very prosperity seems,
however, to have caused them fresh danger. For it made them feel
the government by procurators, which was resumed after the death
of Agrippa I., to be particularly hard to bear, whatever the
individual characters of these might be. They were Cuspius Fadus
(from 44, under whom Theudas), Tiberius Alexander (the Romanised
nephew of Philo, till 48), Cumanus (48-52, under whom the volcano
already began to give dangerous signs of activity), and Felix
(52-60).
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