Seizure of the Temple by Pompey

Hasmonean Judea was torn apart by the two sons of Alexander Jannaeus, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, both of whom appealed to Rome. Pompey, then occupied with reorganizing the East, decided in favor of the elder and laid siege to Jerusalem, where the younger's supporters had entrenched themselves on the Temple Mount.

The siege lasted three months. The besiegers took advantage of the Sabbath to advance their works, the defenders forbidding themselves from interfering except in the event of a direct attack. When the wall gave way, the priests were killed at their posts, without interrupting the offerings. Pompey entered the Holy of Holies — a gesture that struck contemporaries more than the capture itself — but left the treasury intact and ordered the resumption of worship the very next day.

Judea lost its independence that day: reduced to its original boundaries, subjected to tribute, placed under the tutelage of the governor of Syria. A century later, the Great Revolt would spring from that subjugation.