 The Second Temple period ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.After the death of the last "Nevi'im" (Jewish prophets) of antiquity and still under Persian rule, the leadership of the Jewish people was in the hands of five successive generations of "zugot" ("pairs of") leaders.They flourished first under the Persians (c. 539 – c. 332 BCE), then under the Greeks (c. 332–167 BCE), then under an independent Hasmonean Kingdom (140–37 BCE), and then under the Romans (63 BCE – 132 CE).