VI.  Causes of the Fall of the Jewish Kingdom.  The Jewish kingdom fell as the result of causes which can be clearly recognized.  It was primarily because the ideals and ambitions of the Maccabean leaders themselves became material and selfish.  They proved unable to resist the temptations of success.  Greed for power quenched their early patriotism.  The material spirit of their age obscured the nobler ideals of their spiritual teachers.  The result was a tyranny and corruption that made the later kings misleaders rather than true leaders of their nation.  Parallel to the bitter struggle between the kings and their subjects was the bitter feud between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  Normal party rivalry grew into murderous hatred, and in taking revenge upon each other they brought ruin upon the commonwealth.  The final end was hastened by the suicidal feud between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fomented by the unprincipled machinations of the Idumean Antipater.  In the final crisis the Pharisaic policy of submission and of peace at any cost paved the way for the realization of Rome’s ambition and made the ultimate conquest of Palestine practically inevitable.  Thus the kingdom, founded in the face of almost insuperable obstacles and consecrated with the life-blood of many heroes, fell ignominiously as the result of the same causes that throughout the ages have proved the ruin of even stronger empires.

VII.  Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the Maccabean Struggle.  This century of valiant achievement, colossal errors, and overwhelming failure left its deep impression upon the Jewish race.  It witnessed the return of many Jews of the dispersion to Jerusalem and Judea and the development of a strong sense of racial unity.  Henceforth the Jews throughout the world looked to Jerusalem as their true political and religious capital.  The events of this period intensified the ancient feud between Jew and Samaritan and gave the latter ample reason for that hostility toward their southern kinsmen which appears in the Gospel narratives.  It was during this age that the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees finally crystallized and formulated those tenets and policies which guided them during the next century.  At this time the foundations were laid for the rule of the house of Herod which exerted such a baleful influence upon the fortunes and destinies of the Jews.  It likewise marked the beginning and culmination of Rome’s influence over the lands of the eastern Mediterranean and that subjection of the Jews to Gentile rulers which has continued until the present.