The bible is the most famous book in the world. There are over 5 billion copies in existence (nearly one for every person in the world) despite there being only 2.2 billion Christians. It has been translated in 698 languages including Klingon (from Stark Trek), Elvish (from Lord of the Rings), and Na'vi (from Avatar). Weirdly, it is also the most commonly stolen book.

However, despite the abundance of access many people have no idea about the context of when the bible was written. Context is everything, imagine reading Shakespeare and not knowing it was written 500 years ago or the poetry of Wilfred Owen and not knowing he was writing in the trenches of WWI.

The Romans

At this point a fledging geo-political force was beginning to test out its colonialist abilities. Rome had been at the centre of the civilized world for hundreds of years, but its new desire was to spread its ideas and views with force.

Israel stood little chance in the face of the military and political dominance of the Romans. Jesus’ birth came nearly 70 years into occupied rule. Rome was effectively in charge of everything from tax to architecture. It allowed the Jews to conduct some of their own courts as a token gesture. However, if Rome disagreed they would enact their ideas anyway.

The Hellenics

Hellenism is the name for the cultural effect following the spread of Greek values around the world. The expansion of the Roman Empire meant that Greek philosophy, music, art and literature permeated all cultures around the world.

Some see Hellenism as opposed to traditional Hebrew thought because it encourages questioning traditional thought, whereas Judaism was about obedience to the ruled of God and the Sanhedrin. Therefore, Jews at the time tried to resist these ideas but over time even Jewish religious writings see themes of examination, expansion, and discussion.

The Pharisees

The Pharisees were a political-religious group which were highly socially respected within the first-century Jewish community. They followed the purity laws of Judaism at all times, whereas most Jews only had to follow them during religious practice. The Pharisees lived separate lives from the average Jewish people as potential interaction with some groups could result in ritual impurity, which they avoided.

They were also given power by Rome to uphold and enforce adherence to the religious codes and rules and could pass most punishments (except death).

While not as supportive of Roman rule as other groups were, the Pharisees mostly cooperated politically with the Roman occupation as a way of maintaining power.

The Sadducees

The Sadducees were another conservative religious group made up of upper-middle-class Jews, a vast number of whom were part of the Sanhedrin (Jewish elders and leaders who formed part of the religious court).

It is believed that the Sadducees had the power to appoint the Jewish High Priest who effectively became the most senior Jewish figure. This wielded them considerable social and political power and so did not oppose Roman rule, instead reaping the rewards.

The Zealots

The Zealots were a small but important political group who focused on resistance against Roman occupation. They were a group of Jewish political activists who proclaimed their allegiance to God alone, meaning that they refused to submit to the Roman rule in the region and the encroaching hellenic ideas.

There is evidence that this group would use violent tactics to undermine the Romans and it is thought that they are responsible for the uprising that saw the seconded temple destroyed. Even today we use the noun zealot to describe somebody who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their aim.