Pompey takes Jerusalem; Judea falls under Rome
Called in to settle a civil war between two Hasmonean brothers, the Roman general Pompey besieged the temple, took it on a fast day, and walked into the Most Holy Place. Judea became subject to Rome.
The fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, it will break in pieces and crush.
Daniel 2:40 (World English Bible)
Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, grandsons of John Hyrcanus, were fighting over the throne, and both appealed to Pompey, who was then reorganizing the East for Rome. When Aristobulus's supporters shut themselves in the temple, Pompey besieged it for three months, and about 12,000 Jews died. Pompey entered the Most Holy Place, where only the high priest could go, and found no image there. He took nothing, and the next day ordered the temple cleansed.
Daniel had seen a fourth kingdom after Babylon, Persia, and Greece, “strong as iron,” that would break and crush all the others (Daniel 2:40). Rome now ruled Judea, and would still rule it when Jesus was born and when he was crucified.
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
Dating notes
Ussher follows Josephus: the temple fell on a fast day in the consulship of Cicero and Antonius (63 BC), which Ussher takes to be a fast in the month Chislev, in December. Many historians think instead of the Day of Atonement in the autumn, or of early summer. The chart shows the traditional reading of Daniel's four kingdoms.