But the Roman world was about to be plunged into chaos. Pompey was killed in 48 BC. Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44, bringing on the civil wars from which, as we saw, Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian, would emerge as the first actual Roman emperor. Meanwhile Rome’s old enemy, Parthia (corresponding roughly to modern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan), seized the moment to invade Roman possessions in the Middle East, including Jerusalem. Long Jewish memories of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Syria meant that Parthia was bound to be seen by the Jews as the new wicked kingdom. And Herod the Great,
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