Josephus, as we noted above, emphasizes in his later writings that the Pharisees hold considerable de facto power in the early part of the first century BC. When it comes to the first century AD, things are not so clear. At one extreme (now normally abandoned) they have been held to be virtually the ruling party in Judaism, obeying strictly all the Mishnaic rules for haberim and enforcing them on as many Jews as they were able to.
