The Culture of Jesus' Day As humanity grows and we try to satisfy our constant need to conquer, distinct cultures mix while manifest destiny still pushes us westward. America is currently a melting pot of ethnicities and religions. Long ago, around 30 BCE, the region of Palestine served as a place of fusion between cultures, notably Greek, Roman and Jewish. When the Romans invaded Greek territory, much of Greek and Roman culture combined to create a hybrid that became the dominant social and political belief system of the time. Religious beliefs were more varied and many religious groups, including Jews, were persecuted by the Romans in Palestine. According to Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus Christ was born between 2 and 7 BC, meaning that the diversity of social, political and religious philosophies in Palestine must have had an impact on the way Jesus taught and acted (Murray). Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Over the course of hundreds of years, the Romans expanded their domain from a small village to a sprawling empire. By conquering every city they encountered, most of the Mediterranean soon belonged to Rome. Although there are horrific stories of brutal Roman rule, historians say that ". . .wherever the legionnaires went, they established order and the primacy of Roman law. . “Conquerors taxed their subjects heavily, but once tax money was collected, they generally respected local customs and traditions” (Kotker 12). Thus, most conquered nations accepted Roman rule. In fact, only the most Jewish-populated regions of Palestine, Judea and Galilee, fiercely resisted their new enslavers, who “found it intolerable that Roman law should take precedence over the laws of the Torah.” . .which they believed to have been given to them by God himself” (Kotker 12). Regardless of the Jews' discontent, the Romans chose to put a man named Herod in power in Jerusalem to rule over the Jews. Herod's family underwent a forced conversion to Judaism and Roman officials believed that the Jewish population would be more receptive to his ascension to the throne. To achieve this, Herod had to put down rebellions in all the major cities of Palestine, ultimately destroying the Holy Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon hundreds of years before. The Romans used Herod as a puppet and he tried to infuse current Jewish culture with the secular culture of the time. The Jews resisted, however, and “Herod’s introduction of Greco-Roman sports to the Holy Land horrified some Jews” (Kotker 41). After Herod took the throne, he was plagued by intense paranoia for the rest of his life, placing spies throughout Jerusalem and killing citizens who he believed were plotting against him. His paranoia only caused even more political and social tension, and his death in 4 BC was almost a relief. Since the Romans conquered Jerusalem, relations between them and the Jewish population were strained, to say the least. During the early years of Roman occupation, the Jewish religion began to solidify as Jews remained true to their beliefs, in defiance of the Roman and Greek views that the Roman Empire had brought with it. After Herod destroyed the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, he attempted to curry favor with the Jews by rebuilding an even larger version, but his action was unsuccessful.the same impact he hoped for, because the Jews believed that "Their God was invisible and their law forbade them from trying to represent him." . .It was so vast and powerful that no man could ever fully understand it, much less represent it” (Kotker 32). The Jews believed that anyone who did not worship their God was unclean, and they refused to even speak to people who worshiped idols and practiced polytheism, for fear of defiling themselves. Because the Greek and Roman culture worships both gods and goddesses, the Jews could not fully accept Roman rule or beliefs. By the time Jesus was born, the Romans had already invaded Palestine and were well established in the region. The Jewish struggle against Roman rule and Greco-Roman culture would have influenced the way Jesus, a Jew, was raised in his view of the empire. He undoubtedly encountered much anti-Roman sentiment arising from differences in culture and religious customs. He would have been taught that there is only God and that those who worship idols and many gods and goddesses are inferior and impure. This is interesting because Jesus was known for having meals with all kinds of people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, an activity that is the exact opposite of how he was taught to behave. When Herod died in 4 BC, Jesus was either a baby or had not yet been born. After Herod's death, he was succeeded by his son, Herod Antipas, whom the Palestinian people considered more cruel than Herod. Around the time Herod Antipas came to the throne, a great religious figure, John the Baptist, was quickly gaining fame throughout the region. Hundreds of Jews looked to John as a great religious teacher, seeking him out on the banks of a river so they could baptize him. John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus of religious studies at DePaul University, believes that Jesus himself considered John the Baptist a mentor, saying: "Jesus was baptized by John and therefore he must have accepted John's message . » Threatened that John the Baptist might incite a rebellion among the Jews against the Romans, Herod Antipas had John executed. Because Jesus' own journey was gaining momentum at this time, he was seen as another John the Baptist and also threatened Herod Antipas. Despite the growing danger surrounding Jesus' mission, he continued to travel throughout Palestine, performing miracles and preaching parables. The interactions he had with the people he met incorporated aspects of Jewish and Roman social norms. In the story of the Syrophoenician woman, Jesus and his disciples encounter a Canaanite woman who begs Jesus to heal her daughter. When Jesus says he was sent to help only Jews, reflecting the Jewish belief that those who are not Jews are inferior, the woman responds: "'Yes, Lord...yet even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their dogs. table of masters'” (HCSB, Matt. 15.27). Jesus then changes his mind and heals the woman's daughter. In other stories, Jesus meets two women, Mary and Martha, who are mentioned in the Bible as Jesus' close friends. Historians believe that Mary and Martha owned their home and that Jesus treated them as equals. This mimics a more Roman social ideal, since the Romans allowed women to own homes while Jewish beliefs dictated that women were inferior to men. Greco-Roman culture is particularly present in the trial and execution of Jesus. The concept of trial is Roman, and although Jesus' trial was not a typical jury trial like those we know today, "the.