Herod the Great (born ~74 BCE, died ~4 BCE) was the "king" of Judea at the time of Jesus' birth and his influence would have been felt during Jesus' life. He was not actually a "king," but was a client ruler of the Roman Empire. Although he was described as a madman who killed many rabbis and murdered many people in his own family, there were reasons he was called Herod the Great. He is best known for expanding the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, often referred to as Herod's Temple, but he also undertook many building projects in Jerusalem (eg. aqueducts, theater, amphitheater) and within the area he ruled (eg. the port of Caesarea Maritima and the city of Samara).
Herod ruled Judea with an iron fist and he repressed any dissension to the point that Rome did not need to intervene in Judea during his reign. Unfortunately, his death left a large power vacuum and Judea erupted in chaos when he died. Why the power vacuum? Because one of Herod's son would have been designated to assume his rule after his death, but he had killed most of the competent members of his family. His oldest son was killed by his guards just days before his own death. He also confused matters by having three wills, the last of which he revoked at the last moment.
In the absence of an approved heir, the financial aid of the emperor based in Syria, named Sabinus, went to Judea to take charge of Herod's property. However, because of Herod's extensive property holdings, it was difficult for Sabinus to distinguish between public and private property and he found himself in the middle of the violence that was erupting in Jerusalem during the pilgrim Festival of Tabernacles, while various Jewish factions tried to exert control over the region. Sabinus thought he could quell the violence with the use of a legion stationed in Jerusalem along and some of his own armed slaves. The result was intense fighting during the Feast of Tabernacles, and Sabinus' men set fire to the Temple. The Romans got possession of the Temple treasury and much of it was stolen by the soldiers. Sabinus appropriated 400 talents for himself.
Fighting broke out all over the country because of the lack of a governing authority as well as anger over the desecration of the Temple. Soldiers who had been loyal to Herod could not decide whether to side with the Romans or the Jews, and two thousand veterans living in Judea joined the fighting either because of personal gain or because they hated the Jews.
Judas, the son of a rebel that had been killed by Herod in the 40s BCE, arose in Galilee and captured the royal palace in Sepphoris (a city within about 5 miles of where Jesus spent his youth), taking all the weapons stored there. Another group burned down one of Herod's palaces across the Jordon river. Another group followed Simon, a slave of Herod, and plundered the palace in Jericho. Plundering and looting continued all over the country. Anyone could try to make themselves king and many individuals formed rebel bands who then destroyed their communities, causing huge losses of material and Jewish lives. All the fighting caused little harm to the Roman inhabitants of the area.
To restore order, the governor of Syria, Publius Quinctilius Varus, brought troops south from Antioch. He recaptured Sepphoris, sold its inhabitants into slavery and burned down the city. Josephus tells of thousands of Jews hung on crosses along the road for miles (certainly an event that would have been remembered and talked about in Jesus' time in Galilee). He destroyed Emmaus in revenge. Jews that were fighting Sabinus in Jerusalem fled upon Varus' approach. The inhabitants of Jerusalem who had not fled claimed they had been on the side of the Romans all along, and blamed the Jews who had come to Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles for the fighting.
Both Varus and the Emperor understood the complex internal power struggles of the region and that most of the fighting had not been due to hostility toward Rome. The great majority of the people guilty of revolting were pardoned, but the leaders were sent to Caesar. Although Caesar also let most of the leaders go, he punished members of Herod's family who participated in the fighting because they treated justice in a contemptible manner when they chose to fight against their own side.
Eventually, Herod's kingdom was divided among three of this sons by the Emperor Caesar Augustus. Archilaus became ethnarch of the tetrarchy of Judea, Herod Antipas became tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, and Philip became tetrarch of the land east of the Jordan.
Despite some disruptions, the time from the death of Herod until the Jewish uprising in 66 CE is considered to be a time of relative peace in Judea, with no major wars or Roman "invasions" to resume control of the region. The Jews lived within the governmental framework of the Roman Empire and do not seem to have harbored too much animosity for the Romans. So, while Jesus lived, he was able to perform his ministry while the population was fairly free of military intervention or major internal strife.
References:
Goodman, Martin. Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations. New York: Vintage Books, 2007.
Wikipedia. "Herod the Great." 17 July 2012. 30 July 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great.
