Early history
Although the date of the city's founding is a point of some dispute, it is at least as old as the 7th century BCE, when it was fortified by the ancient Assyrians. It subsequently served as an administrative center in the region under Babylonian, Hellenistic and Persian rule.
In 104 BCE, the Hasmoneans settled there under the leadership of either Alexander Jannaeus or Aristobulus I. The city was called Tzippori and may have derived from the Hebrewword for 'bird,' tsippor, perhaps because of its bird's-eye view the hilltop provides. The Hasmonean Kingdom was divided into five districts by the Roman pro-consul Gabinius, and Sepphoris came under the direct rule of the Romans in the year 37 BCE, when Herod the Great captured the city from Mattathaias Antigonus, reportedly at the height of a snowstorm.
Tzippori of the time of Jesus was a large, Roman-influenced city and a hotbed of political activism. Archaeological evidence give credence to the idea that Jesus, while living in Nazareth, would have done most of his business in Tzippori.
After Herod's death in 4 BCE, the Jewish inhabitants of Tzippori rebelled against Roman rule and the Roman army moved in under the command of the Roman Governor in Syria, Varus. Completely destroying the city, the Roman army sold many of its inhabitants into slavery. Herod's son, Herod Antipas was made Tetrarch, or governor, in 1 CE, and proclaimed the city's new name to be Autocratis, or the "Ornament of the Galilee." An ancient route linking Tzippori to Legio, and further south to Sebaste-Samaria, is believed to have been paved by the Romans around this time.
The inhabitants of Autocratis did not join the resistance against Roman rule in the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE. Rather, they signed a pact with the Roman army and opened the gates of the city to the Roman general Vespasian upon his arrival in 67 CE They were rewarded for this allegiance by having their city spared from the
