Reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes Begins
During the roughly 400 year intertestamental period, between the writing of the last book of the Old Testament and the advent of Jesus, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (175-163 BC) destroyed the temple and executed many Jews. A few years later Judas the Maccabee—the leader of the Maccabean revolt (167-134 BC) against the Seleucid empire—liberated Jerusalem, and the Jews were able to restore the temple. In 63 BC, the Romans besieged and took the city, making Judah part of the Roman empire. In 40 BC, Caesar Augustus made Herod the Great king over Judah. In 20 BC, Herod began renovating the Jewish temple that had been built in the sixth century. That renovation project was completed in AD 66. The Romans subsequently destroyed the temple in AD 70, as a part of their crushing of Jewish zealots during the Jewish Wars (67-73 AD). This persecution resulted in a massive dispersion of the Jews throughout the world.