Note 24 — Chapter XVI · The Heart of Salome

—page 113. History records the facts of Roman corruption and degeneracy during this period. During the absence of Salathiel, the oppression and extortion had maddened the Jews and reached a point beyond endurance. There resulted a succession of partial and premature uprisings. The empire everywhere seemed falling into decay, and preparing for dissolution; the evils and the evil line of rulers culminated in the administration of Gessius Florus.