64 MORTEN HØRNING JENSEN basis 68. He then argues for a much more lenient picture of Herod the Great than the one presented in what he describes as the old view of Herod. Instead of presuming that Herod’s enterprises point to “crushing tax burdens” 69, Udoh claims from a chronological perspective that Herod financed his most expensive and lavish building projects only after new territories had been granted to him, providing him with much more personal wealth and income. Therefore: “The immensity of Herod’s enterprises points not to crushing tax burdens, but rather to the prosperity of his realm and to his personal wealth” 70. In conclusion, Udoh states: The general view that excessive taxation of the Jewish state in the early Roman period was the cause of observable depravity in the first century C.E. is not supported by the evidence … The argu- ments used to build an impression of continuous tax oppression and economic depravity in Palestine do not stand up to scrutiny. Palestine was not continually “oppressed” by three levels of ru- inous taxes from 63 B.C.E. until the Revolt of 66 C.E. 71 9. Climate Finally, and all too briefly, I address the issue of climatic fluctuations, which has been the topic of some discussions in research. Yet again, we encounter highly conflicting opinions: on the one hand those who find evidence of frequent droughts and climatic instability leading to famine 72, and, on the other, those who find that 68 “The discussion of Jewish tax obligations to Rome under the Herods is hampered by the lack of evidence. There is nothing in Josephus’s account of Herod’s reign to suggest that his subjects paid tribute to Rome” — F.E. UDOH, To Caesar What Is Caesar’s. Tribute, Taxes, and Imperial Administration in Early Roman Palestine (63 B.C.E-70 C.E.) (Brown Judaic Studies 343; Pro- vidence, RI 2005) 118. 69 UDOH, To Caesar, 190. 70 UDOH, To Caesar, 190. According to Udoh, these new territories pro- vided Herod with new ways of gaining revenue: “With these new territories, Herod had available to him the revenues derived not only from a tax base that extended beyond Judea, but especially from the estates and from tolls and duties collected in the cities and trade routes that he now controlled” (UDOH, To Caesar, 197). 71 UDOH, To Caesar, 285. 72 Cf. e. g. APPLEBAUM, “Economic Life”, 691.