power it had previously enjoyed. Like the earlier Hellenists, Herod usurped the right to appoint the high priest. Moreover, he kept in his own quarters the high priest’s sacred vestments. Following the death of Herod, the Romans (see Rome) ruled Palestine more directly, and during this period the high priests worked closely with the Roman procurators and prefects. This in itself is evidence that high priests typically arose from the party of the Sadducees (see Judaism), since other Jews would not