4 BCE – March
In early March 4 BCE, two of the most highly respected teachers of Jewish law in Jerusalem decided to inveigh against the ‘eagle statue’ (see just-previous exhibit 5 BCE) which Herod had placed on the Temple grounds. The two prominent Jewish teachers, Mattathias ben Margalit and Judah ben Zippori, were both Pharisees (i.e. Orthodox Jews from the ‘humanistic’ wing of Judaism).
Mattathias and Judah exhorted their students in their Jerusalem school to destroy the offending statue. The teachers and about forty of their students then charged through the streets of Jerusalem, making their way to the Temple site of the offending statue, rappelled up the ceremonial gate, toppled the eagle to the ground, and summarily hacked the offending symbol of Imperial Rome to pieces.
