More than a decade before the hobnailed boots of Pompey the Great scraped the pavers of the Jerusalem Temple,* the Roman commander was out West. On the Iberian Peninsula, he pursued a campaign against the guerrillas of Quintus Sertorius. This pursuit kept Pompey busy for five years, from 76 to 71 BC. In that half-decade, Pompey developed his military chops, demonstrated a reputation for brutality, and earned a Roman triumph. The experience would serve him well.
King-makers and king-breakers
“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt 2:3).
The response of Herod and Jerusalem (and potentially Rome itself) may be best appreciated in a wider geopolitical context. This is all the more significant given the reputation of the magoi as royal puppeteers in texts outside the Bible.
