lysias94 said
Has any thought been given as to why apocalyptic beliefs should have arisen among Jews at that time (roughly 150 B.C. – 70 A.D.)?  Was it simply the oppressiveness of Roman rule or might other factors also have been responsible?

    

Steefen
Pompey the Great died 48 BC. His first consulship was 70 BC.
His march through Syria, the Levant, and Judea was 64-63 BC.
Judea did not like Pompey. Judea preferred Julius Caesar.

Why are you implying oppressiveness of Roman rule 150 BC to 65 BC?

Why are you implying oppressiveness of Roman rule under Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus?

Is a census imposed for Roman tax purposes really oppression? How much had Judea, client kingdom under Rome  gained from Rome that its population should not be counted and taxed?

Let’s see, Judas of Galilee/Judas of Gamala resisted in year 6 C.E. after Herod the Great died in 4 BC but before Augustus died in year 14 C.E.

Apocalyptic beliefs arose 150 BC?
The Star Prophecy goes back to Numbers 24: 17. That prophecy probably is not apocalyptic.

Apocalyptic theory can begin in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Later apocalyptic thought is about Hellenism bringing an apocalypse to Judaism.

When Judea woke up to the political reality that a promised land and a people are not an empire and that an empire can swallow its political entity, “the end is here.”

Even with Herod the Great rebuilding the Temple under Roman rule, whatever perceived corruption and perversion resulted in “the end is here” alarm.

Purists (think Dead Sea Scrolls, the War Scroll) could not accept the empire-client kingdoms political structure and they called for an “end of the world” showdown.

As Ehrman has taught, Jewish thinking went from “bad things happen to us because we are disobedient” to “bad things happen to people who are not disobedient” which led to a final judgment or a final showdown–in the end, there will be vindication.