Herod Antipas (short for Antipatros) (before 20 BC – after 39 AD) was a first century AD ruler of
GalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country...
and
PereaPerea , a portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, from about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee to about one third the way down the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; it did not extend too far inland...
, who bore the title of
tetrarchThe term Tetrarchy describes any system of government where power is divided among four individuals, but usually refers to the tetrarchy instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293, marking the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and the recovery of the Roman Empire...
("ruler of a quarter"). He is best known today for his purported role in the events that led to the executions of
John the BaptistJohn the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of Baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel...
and
Jesus of NazarethJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
, both from the accounts of these events in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
and their portrayal in modern media such as
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
.
After inheriting his territories when the kingdom of his father
Herod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho, was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused...
was divided upon his death in 4 BC, Antipas ruled them as a
client stateClient state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal...
of the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
. He was responsible for building projects at Sepphoris and Betharamphtha, and more importantly for the construction of his capital
TiberiasTiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. Established in 20 CE, it was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius. Since the sixteenth century, Tiberias has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed...
on the western shore of the
Sea of GalileeThe Sea of Galilee, also Lake of Gennesaret, Lake Kinneret or Sea of Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, being approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long, and 13 km wide. The lake has a total area of 166 km², and a maximum depth of approximately...
. Named in honor of his patron, the emperor
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
, the city later became a center of
rabbinicRabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the codification of the Talmud in the centuries following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Roman Empire...
learning.
Antipas divorced his first wife Phasaelis, the daughter of King
Aretas IVAretas IV Philopatris was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.His full title, as given in the inscriptions, was "Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, Friend of his People." Being the most powerful neighbour of Judea, he frequently took part in the state affairs of that country, and was...
of Nabatea, in favour of
HerodiasHerodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty.-Relationships:*Daughter of Aristobulus IV...
, who had formerly been married to his brother. According to the New Testament
GospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
s, it was John the Baptist's condemnation of this arrangement that led Antipas to have him arrested; John was subsequently put to death. The
Gospel of LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
states that when Jesus was brought before
Pontius PilatePontius Pilate was the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26–36. Typically referenced as the fifth Procurator of Judea, he is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized his crucifixion.Pilate appears in all four canonical Christian Gospels...
for trial, Pilate handed him over to Antipas, in whose territory Jesus had been active. However, Antipas sent him back to Pilate. The legal basis for these events, and the very historicity of Antipas' involvement in the trial, have been the subject of scholarly debate. Besides provoking his conflict with the Baptist, the tetrarch's divorce added a personal grievance to previous disputes with Aretas over territory on the border of Perea and Nabatea. The result was a war that proved disastrous for Antipas; a Roman counter-offensive was ordered by Tiberius, but abandoned upon that emperor's death in 37 AD. In 39 AD Antipas was accused by his nephew
Agrippa IAgrippa I also called the Great , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod "...
of conspiracy against the new Roman emperor
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, who sent him into exile in
GaulRoman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for 600 years. The Roman Empire began its takeover of what was Celtic Gaul in 121 BC, when it conquered and annexed the southern...
. Accompanied there by Herodias, he died at an unknown date.
Early life
Antipas was a son of
Herod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho, was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused...
, who had become king of
JudeaJudea or Judæa is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank Judea or Judæa (Hebrew: יהודה,
Standard Yəhuda
Tiberian , "praised, celebrated"; Greek: Ιουδαία, Ioudaía; ) is the...
, and
MalthaceMalthace was a Samaritan woman who lived in the latter half of the first century BCE. She was one of the wives of Herod the Great and the mother by Herod of Herod Antipas, Archelaus and a daughter Olympias....
, who was from
SamariaSamaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
. His date of birth is unknown but was before 20 BCE. Antipas, his full brother
ArchelausHerod Archelaus was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Edom from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I....
and his half-brother
PhilipHerod Philip II, or Philip the Tetrarch, was son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem and half-brother of Herod Antipas and Herod Archelausand Herod Philip I....
were educated in
RomeAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
.
Antipas was not Herod's first choice of heir. That honor fell to
AristobulusAristobulus IV was a prince of Judea from the Herodian dynasty, and was married to his cousin, Berenice, daughter of Costobar and Salome...
and Alexander, Herod's sons by the Hasmonaean princess Mariamne. It was only after they were executed (
c. 7 BC), and Herod's oldest son Antipater was convicted of trying to poison his father (5 BC), 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 BC, 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
GalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country...
and
PereaPerea , a portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, from about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee to about one third the way down the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; it did not extend too far inland...
with the lesser title of
tetrarchTetrarch can refer to:* one of the four co-emperors of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy.* minor provincial rulers of a territory divided in four parts:...
. Philip was to receive Gaulanitis (the
Golan HeightsThe Golan Heights is a strategic plateau and mountainous region at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and remains a highly contested land straddling the borders of Syria and Israel. Two-thirds of the area is currently governed by Israel...
), Batanaea (southern Syria),
TrachonitisTrachonitis was a region that once formed part of Herod Philip's tetrarchy. It now lies within the boundaries of modern Syria.It appears in the Bible only in the phrase tes Itouraias kai Trachbnitidos choras, literally, "of the Iturean and Trachonian region"...
and Auranitis (
HauranHauran, also Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of modern-day Jordan. It gets its name from the aramic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...
).
Because of Judea's status as a Roman client kingdom, Herod's plans for the succession had to be ratified by Augustus. The three heirs therefore travelled 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 favoured 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
ethnarchEthnarch, the anglicized form of ethnarches refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or heterogeneous kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek words and ....
rather than king.
To circa 29 AD
While Archelaus was deemed incompetent by Augustus and replaced with a
prefectPrefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
in 6 AD, Antipas would govern Galilee and Perea for forty-two years. These territories were separated by the region of the
DecapolisThe Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Jordan, Palestine, and Syria. The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status...
, with Galilee to the north and Perea to the south (see map). Threats to stability in both areas would have been clear to Antipas when he took office. While he had been making his case to Augustus in Rome, dissidents led by one Judas son of Hezekiah had attacked the palace of Sepphoris in Galilee, seizing money and weapons with which they terrorised the area. In a counterattack ordered by
Quinctilius VarusPublius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
, Roman governor of Syria, Sepphoris was destroyed by fire and its inhabitants sold as slaves. Perea, meanwhile, bordered on the kingdom of Nabatea, which had long had uneasy relations with Romans and Jews.
Part of Antipas' solution was to follow in his father's footsteps as a builder. He rebuilt and fortified Sepphoris, while also adding a wall to Betharamphtha in Perea. The latter city was renamed Livias after Augustus' wife
LiviaLivia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor...
, and later Julias after
his daughterJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
. However, the tetrarch's most noted construction was his capital on the western shore of the
Sea of GalileeThe Sea of Galilee, also Lake of Gennesaret, Lake Kinneret or Sea of Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, being approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long, and 13 km wide. The lake has a total area of 166 km², and a maximum depth of approximately...
–
TiberiasTiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. Established in 20 CE, it was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius. Since the sixteenth century, Tiberias has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed...
, so named to honor his patron
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
, who had succeeded Augustus as emperor in 14 AD. Residents could
batheBathing is the immersion of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practiced for hygiene, religious or therapeutic purposes or as a recreational activity....
nearby at the warm springs of
EmmausEmmaus was an ancient town located approximately northwest of present day Jerusalem...
, and by the time of the
First Jewish-Roman WarThe first Jewish-Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Iudaea Province against the Roman Empire .It began in the year 66 initially because of Greek and Jewish religious tensions...
the city's own buildings included a stadium, a royal palace and a sanctuary for prayer. It gave its name to the sea and later became a center of
rabbinicRabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the codification of the Talmud in the centuries following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Roman Empire...
learning. However, pious Jews at first refused to live in it because it was built atop a graveyard and therefore a source of ritual impurity; Antipas had to colonise it using a mixture of foreigners,
forced migrantsForced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region. It often connotes violent coercion, and is used interchangeably with the terms "displacement" or forced displacement...
, poor people and freed slaves.
At other times Antipas was more sensitive to Jewish tradition. His coins carried no images, which would have violated Jewish prescriptions against
idolatryIdolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. It is considered a major sin in the Abrahamic religions whereas in religions where such activity is not considered a sin, the term "idolatry" itself is absent...
. When
Pontius PilatePontius Pilate was the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26–36. Typically referenced as the fifth Procurator of Judea, he is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized his crucifixion.Pilate appears in all four canonical Christian Gospels...
, governor of Judea from 26 CEto 36 CE, caused offence by placing votive shields in the royal palace at
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
, Antipas and his brothers successfully petitioned for their removal.
John the Baptist and Jesus
Early in his reign, Antipas had married the daughter of King
Aretas IVAretas IV Philopatris was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.His full title, as given in the inscriptions, was "Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, Friend of his People." Being the most powerful neighbour of Judea, he frequently took part in the state affairs of that country, and was...
of Nabatea. However, while staying in Rome with his half-brother Herod (son of Herod the Great and
Mariamne IIMariamne II was the third wife of Herod the Great. She was the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest. Josephus recounts their wedding thus:...
), he fell in love with his host's wife
HerodiasHerodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty.-Relationships:*Daughter of Aristobulus IV...
(granddaughter of Herod the Great and
Mariamne IMariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean was the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus. Her husband loved her because of her beauty alone and not for what was in her heart and soul...
). Antipas and Herodias agreed to divorce their previous spouses in order to marry each other. On learning of this, Aretas' daughter travelled to the fortress of
MachaerusMachaerus is a fortified hilltop palace located in Jordan fifteen miles southeast of the mouth of the Jordan river on the eastern side of the Dead Sea...
, from where Nabatean forces escorted her to her father. Relations between Antipas and Aretas soured and in time preparations began for war.
Antipas faced more immediate problems in his own tetrarchy when
John the BaptistJohn the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of Baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel...
– in 28/29 CE according to the
Gospel of LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
– began a ministry of preaching and
baptismIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
by the
Jordan RiverThe Jordan River or River Jordan is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers...
, which marked the western edge of Antipas' territory of Perea. The
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
GospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
s state that John attacked the tetrarch's marriage as contrary to Jewish law, while
JosephusJosephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70...
says that John's public influence made him fearful of rebellion. John was imprisoned in Machaerus and executed. According to
MatthewThe Gospel of Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth...
and
MarkThe Gospel of Mark is the second of the four Canonical Gospels, but is believed by most contemporary scholars to be the first gospel written, on which the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, were partially based....
, Herod was reluctant to order John's death but was compelled by Herodias' daughter (unnamed in the text but traditionally
SalomeSalome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
), to whom he had promised any reward she chose in exchange for her dancing.
Among those baptized by John was
Jesus of NazarethJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
, who began his own ministry in Galilee – causing Antipas, according to Matthew and Mark, to fear that the Baptist had been
raised from the deadThe resurrection of dead humans is a central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It may refer either to the resurrection of particular individuals, or a general resurrection of humanity....
.
LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
alone among the Gospels states that a group of
PhariseesThe word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "set apart" . The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era...
warned Jesus that Antipas was plotting his death, whereupon Jesus denounced the tetrarch as a "
foxFox is a common name for many species of carnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail ....
" and declared that he, Jesus, would not fall victim to such a plot because "it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem". Luke also credits the tetrarch with a role in Jesus' trial. According to Luke, Pilate, on learning that Jesus was a Galilean and therefore under Herod's jurisdiction, sent him to Antipas, who was also in Jerusalem at the time. Initially, Antipas was pleased to see Jesus, hoping to see him perform a
miracleA miracle is a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can be attempted to be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle worker. Many folktales, religious texts, and people claim various events they refer to as "miraculous". People in different...
, but when Jesus remained silent in the face of questioning Antipas mocked him and sent him back to Pilate. Luke says that these events improved relations between Pilate and Herod despite their earlier enmity.
The reason for Antipas' involvement has been debated.
Theodor MommsenChristian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...
argued that the normal legal procedure of the early Roman empire was for defendants to be tried by the authorities of their home provinces. A. N. Sherwin-White re-examined the relevant legal texts and concluded that trials were generally based on the location of the alleged crimes, but that there was a possibility of referral to a province of origin in special cases. If Pilate was not required to send Jesus to Antipas, he may have been making a show of courtesy to the tetrarch and
trying to avoidBuck passing or passing the buck is the action of transferring responsibility or blame onto another person.It is also used as a strategy in power politics when the actions of one country/nation are blamed on another, providing an opportunity for war....
the need to deal with the Jewish authorities himself. When Jesus was sent back, Pilate could still have represented Antipas' failure to convict as support for his own view (according to Luke) that Jesus was not guilty of a capital offence, thus allowing him to avoid responsibility for Jesus' execution.
Some scholars believe that Jesus' trial by Herod Antipas is unhistorical.
Robin Lane FoxRobin Lane Fox is an English historian, currently a Fellow of New College, Oxford and University of Oxford Reader in Ancient History.-Life:Lane Fox was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford....
, for example, argues that the story was invented based on
PsalmPsalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible , included in the collected works known as the "Writings" or Ketuvim.-Etymology:...
2, in which "the kings of the earth" are described as opposing the Lord's "anointed", and also served to show that the authorities failed to find grounds for convicting Jesus.
Later reign
It was in 36 CE that the conflict with Aretas of Nabatea, caused by Antipas' divorce and the rulers' disagreement over territory, developed into open war. Antipas' army suffered a devastating defeat after fugitives from the former tetrarchy of
PhilipHerod Philip II, or Philip the Tetrarch, was son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem and half-brother of Herod Antipas and Herod Archelausand Herod Philip I....
sided with the Nabateans, and Antipas was forced to appeal to Tiberius for help. The emperor ordered
Lucius VitelliusLucius Vitellius Veteris was the youngest of four sons of quaestor Publius Vitellius and the only one that did not die through politics. Under Emperor Tiberius, he was Consul in 34 and Governor of Syria in 35. He deposed Pontius Pilate in 36 after complains from the people in Samaria...
, governor of Syria, to march against Aretas and ensure that he was captured or killed. Vitellius obediently mobilized two
legionsThe Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the...
, sending them on a detour around Judea while he joined Antipas in attending a festival at Jerusalem. While staying there he learned of the death of Tiberius (16 March
AD 37Year 37 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* March 18—The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius's will and proclaims Caligula Roman Emperor....
), concluded he lacked the authority to go to war, and recalled his troops.
Josephus implies that Vitellius was unwilling to cooperate with the tetrarch because of a grudge he bore from an earlier incident. According to his account, Antipas provided hospitality at a conference on the
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and historically one of the most important rivers of Southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
between Vitellius and King
Artabanus IIArtabanus II of Parthia ruled the Parthian Empire from about AD 10 to 38. He was the son of a princess of the Arsacid Dynasty who lived in the East among the Dahan nomads...
of
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
, and after Vitellius' diplomatic success anticipated the governor in sending a report to Tiberius. However, other sources place the meeting between Vitellius and Artabanus under Tiberius' successor
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, leading some historians to think that Josephus misdated it to the reign of Tiberius or conflated it with an earlier diplomatic meeting involving Antipas and Vitellius.
Exile and death
Antipas' fall from power was due to Caligula and to his own nephew
AgrippaAgrippa I also called the Great , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod "...
, brother of
HerodiasHerodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty.-Relationships:*Daughter of Aristobulus IV...
. When Agrippa fell into debt during the reign of Tiberius despite his connections with the imperial family, Herodias persuaded Antipas to provide for him, but the two men quarrelled and Agrippa departed. After Agrippa was heard expressing to his friend Caligula his eagerness for Tiberius to die and leave room for Caligula to succeed him, he was imprisoned. When Caligula finally became emperor in 37 CE, he not only released his friend but granted him rule of Philip's former tetrarchy (slightly extended), with the title of king.
Josephus relates that Herodias, jealous at Agrippa's success, persuaded Antipas to ask Caligula for the title of king for himself. However, Agrippa simultaneously presented the emperor with a list of charges against the tetrarch: allegedly, he had conspired against Tiberius with
SejanusLucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
(executed 31 AD) and was now plotting against Caligula with Artabanus. As evidence, Agrippa noted that Antipas had a stockpile of weaponry sufficient for 70,000 men. Hearing Antipas' admission to this last charge, Caligula decided to credit the allegations of conspiracy. In the summer of 39 AD, Antipas' money and territory were turned over to Agrippa, while he himself was exiled. The place of his exile is given by Josephus'
AntiquitiesAntiquities of the Jews was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus about the year 93 or 94. Antiquities of the Jews is a history of the Jewish people, written in Greek for Josephus' gentile patrons...
as "
LugdunumLugdunum is the name of :* Lugdunum, now Lyon, France* Lugdunum Convenarum, now Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, France* Lugdunum Clavatum, now Laon, France* Lugdunum Batavorum, near Katwijk...
" in
GaulRoman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for 600 years. The Roman Empire began its takeover of what was Celtic Gaul in 121 BC, when it conquered and annexed the southern...
. (This may mean the city of
LugdunumColonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis. For 300 years after its foundation Lugdunum was the most important city in north-western Europe...
now known as
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
, or the less important Lugdunum Convenarum, modern
Saint-Bertrand-de-CommingesSaint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in south-western France. It is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association.-History:...
.) Caligula offered to allow Herodias, as Agrippa's sister, to retain her property. However, she chose instead to join her husband in exile.
Antipas died in exile. The third-century historian Cassius Dio seems to imply that Caligula had him killed, but this is usually treated with skepticism by modern historians.
Legacy
Among the followers of Jesus and members of the early Christian movement mentioned in the New Testament are
JoannaJoanna was one of the women associated with the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, often considered to be one of the disciples. In the Bible, she is one of the women recorded in the Gospel of Luke as accompanying Jesus and the twelve: "Mary, called Magdalene, .....
, the wife of one of Antipas' stewards, and
ManaenSaint Manahen was a teacher of the Church of Antioch and the foster brother of Herod Antipas....
, a "foster-brother" or "companion" of Antipas (both translations are possible for the Greek ). It has been conjectured that these were sources for early Christian knowledge of Antipas and his court. In any case, Antipas featured prominently in the New Testament in connection with the deaths of John the Baptist and Jesus (see above). The pseudepigraphical
Gospel of PeterThe Gospel of Peter may have been a prominent passion narrative in the early history of Christianity, but over time it passed out of common usage. Only fragments survive...
went further, stating that it was Antipas rather than
PilatePontius Pilate was the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26–36. Typically referenced as the fifth Procurator of Judea, he is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized his crucifixion.Pilate appears in all four canonical Christian Gospels...
who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. In line with the work's
anti-SemiticAntisemitism is prejudice against or hostility towards Jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, or religion....
theme, it pointedly remarked that Herod and "the Jews", unlike Pilate, refused to "wash their hands" of responsibility for the death.
Antipas has appeared in a large number of more recent representations of the
passionThe Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
of Jesus – often, as in the films
Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a 1973, Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the rock opera of the same name, based on the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus. The film was directed by Norman Jewison...
and
The Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the Christ is a film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. It is based on the New Testament accounts of the arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, events commonly known as The Passion. The film’s dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew, with...
, being portrayed as effeminate. The origin of this tradition may have been Antipas' manipulation by his wife Herodias, as well as Christ's description of him as a "fox" in Luke 13:32, using a feminine word in the original Greek. He also features in The Secret Magdalene by
Ki LongfellowKi Longfellow is an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur. In Britain, as the widow of Vivian Stanshall, she is well known as the guardian of his artistic heritage, but elsewhere she is best known for her own work, especially the 2005 novel The...
. In Longfellow's view, he was not effeminate so much as rash, ineffective, and when backed into a corner by his furious ex-father-in-law, willing to do anything to save himself.
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