The Herodian Tetrarchy was formed following the death of
Herod the Great in 4 BCE, when his kingdom was divided between his sons
Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (). He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samar ...
as
ethnarch,
Herod Antipas and
Philip as tetrarchs in inheritance, while Herod's sister
Salome I briefly ruled a
toparchy of
Jamnia. Upon the deposition of
Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (). He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samar ...
in 6 CE, his territories (
Judea,
Samaria and
Idumea) were transformed into a
Roman province. With the death of Salome I in 10 CE, her domain was also incorporated into the province. However, other parts of the Herodian Tetrarchy continued to function under
Herodians. Thus,
Philip ruled over territories north and east of the
Jordan River (namely,
Iturea,
Trachonitis,
Batanea,
Gaulanitis,
Auranitis and
Paneas) until 34 CE (his domain later being incorporated into the
Province of Syria), while
Herod Antipas ruled
Galilee and
Perea until 39 CE. The last notable Herodian ruler with some level of independence was
Herod Agrippa I, who was even granted the title of king and the territory of a province
Judea with
Jerusalem, though with his death in 44 CE, the provincial status of Judea was restored for good.
Later Herodians,
Herod of Chalcis,
Aristobulus of Chalcis
Aristobulus V of Chalcis ( grc-gre, Ἀριστόβουλος) was a son of Herod of Chalcis and his first wife Mariamne. Herod of Chalcis, ruler of Chalcis in Iturea, was a grandson of Herod the Great through his father, Aristobulus IV. Mariamn ...
and
Agrippa II, reigned over territories outside of
Judea with the title of King as
Roman clients. The last of them, Agrippa II, died childless in c. 100 CE and thus all territories previously ruled by members of the Herodian dynasty were incorporated into the province of Syria.
History
At the time of his death, Herod ruled over most of the South Western
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
, as a
client-state of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. Antipas was not Herod's first choice of heir. That honor fell to
Aristobulus and Alexander, Herod's sons by
the Hasmonean princess Mariamne. It was only after they were executed (c. 7 BCE), and Herod's oldest son
Antipater was convicted of trying to poison his father (5 BCE), that the now elderly Herod fell back on his youngest son Antipas, revising his will to make him heir. During his fatal illness in 4 BCE, Herod had yet another change of heart about the succession. According to the final version of his will, Antipas' elder brother Archelaus was now to become king of Judea,
Idumea and Samaria, while Antipas would rule
Galilee and
Perea with the lesser function of tetrarch. Philip was to receive
Gaulanitis (the
Golan Heights), Batanaea (southern Syria),
Trachonitis and Auranitis (
Hauran).
Because of Judea's status as a Roman
client kingdom, Herod's plans for the succession had to be ratified by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
. The three heirs of Herod therefore traveled to Rome to make their claims, Antipas arguing he ought to inherit the whole kingdom and the others maintaining that Herod's final will ought to be honored. Despite qualified support for Antipas from Herodian family members in Rome, who favored direct Roman rule of Judea but considered Antipas preferable to his brother, Augustus largely confirmed the division of territory set out by Herod in his final will. Archelaus had, however, to be content with the title of ethnarch rather than king. Herod's sister Salome I also received the title of queen of Jamnia, ruling Paralia and some areas in southern Perea. Upon her death in 10 CE, the domain was incorporated into Judea Province.
Eventually, after his death the kingdom was divided between three of Herod's sons:
*
Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (). He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samar ...
, his son by his fourth wife
Malthace the Samaritan, received the lion's share of the kingdom;
Idumaea,
Judea and
Samaria, and the title of Ethnarch ("ruler of the people"; in this case, the Jews,
Samaritans, and
Idumeans
Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
).
*
Herod Antipas, Archelaus’ brother, became Tetrarch of
Galilee and
Perea.
*
Philip, Herod's son by his fifth wife
Cleopatra of Jerusalem, became Tetrarch of the northern part of Herod's kingdom. The
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...
lists Philip's territories as
Iturea and
Trachonitis and
Flavius Josephus lists as
Gaulanitis, Trachonitis and
Paneas as well as
Batanea, Trachonitis,
Auranitis, and "a certain part of what is called the
House of Zenodorus". A number of these names refer to the same places, found now in modern-day
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Lebanon.
In a turbulent period of history, the rule of the tetrarchs was relatively uneventful. The most trouble fell to Archelaus, who was faced with sedition by the
Pharisees at the beginning of his reign, and crushed it with great severity. After ruling for 10 years he was removed by the emperor
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
in 6 CE, following complaints about his cruelty and his offences against the
Mosaic law. He was replaced by a Roman
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
, and his territory re-organized as the Roman province of
Iudaea
Judaea ( la, Iudaea ; grc, Ἰουδαία, translit=Ioudaíā ) was a Roman province which incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 6 CE, extending over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of ...
.
Philip ruled Iturea, Trachonitis, Batanea, Gaulanitis, Auranitis and Paneas as a tetrarch until his death in 34 CE when his territories became briefly part of the Roman province of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, but in 37 CE were given to
Herod Agrippa I with the title of king. Herod Agrippa I arranged for
Chalcis to be handed over to his brother
Herod and ruled himself in Philip's stead. After the banishment of Herod Antipas in 39 CE Herod Agrippa I became also ruler of Galilee and Perea, and in 41 CE, as a mark of favour by the emperor
Claudius, succeeded the Roman prefect
Marullus as King of Iudaea. With this acquisition, a Herodian Kingdom of the Jews was nominally re-established until his death in 44 CE though there is no indication that status as a province was suspended.
Name
The word
Tetrarch suggests four rulers ("ruler of a quarter"); however Josephus, in the context of describing Herod's legacy, only mentions three. He refers to Archelaus, who had "one half of that which had been subject to Herod", and for Philip and Antipas "the other half, divided into two parts". On the other hand,
Luke the Evangelist refers to
Lysanias, tetrarch of
Abilene, in his list of rulers at the time of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
, alongside
Pontius Pilate (one of a series of Roman governors who replaced Archelaus), Herod (Antipas), and Philip. Josephus' reference to one half the kingdom may signify that Archelaus was ruler of two quarters. This would suggest that division into quarters was already established, and that Lysanias' quarter was part of a different tetrarchy in Syria; this is credible, as Herod III, brother of Herod Agrippa I, was king of Chalcis, which was to the north, outside Herod's kingdom. Or it may be that Josephus, in describing the inheritances of Herod's sons, omitted to mention Lysanias, or his predecessor, as they were not Herodians. The reference to "one half of the kingdom" could then be understood as a geographical, rather than a political observation; Archelaus' share of the kingdom covered about half the territory, and more than half the revenue, owned by Herod. It is the view of W. Smith, referring to
Abilene, that Abilene, or part of it, was subject to Herod before his death, and held by Lysanias as a tetrarchate from him. The territory was returned later to the Herodians, the first part by
Caligula to Herod Agrippa I, the remainder by Claudius to Herod Agrippa II.
[Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', 4.692]
See also
*
Herodian dynasty
Notes
References
:
:
{{Ancient states and regions of the Levant , state=collapsed
4 BC establishments
44 disestablishments
Herodian dynasty
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire
Judea
New Testament regions
Political entities in the Land of Israel
States and territories established in the 1st century BC
States and territories disestablished in the 1st century
Former monarchies