Phasael

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Phasael

Phasael (died 40 BC) (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: Phasaelus; from , Phasaelos) was a prince from the Herodian Dynasty

Herodian Dynasty

The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumea descent, who ruled Iudaea Province between 37 BC - AD 92....
of Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a 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 ....
.

ael was born in the Hasmonean Kingdom to a Jewish aristocratic family of Edomite descent. His father, Antipater the Idumaean

Antipater the Idumaean

Antipater II the Idumaean was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. Other members of the family with the name Antipater were his father Antipater I, Governor of Idumaea, and grandson Antipater III....
, was the close advisor of the Hasmonean

Hasmonean

The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE....
king Hyrcanus II

Hyrcanus II

Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the Jewish Kohen Gadol and King of Judea in the 1st century BCE....
, and his mother Cypros was a Nabatean princess. Phasael was the elder brother of Herod

Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
.

Both Phasael and Herod began their careers under their father, Antipater, who was appointed procurator

Procurator

Procurator may refer to:In historical uses:*Promagistrate, an appointed position in the Roman Republic by the Senate, acting in place of a curator...
of Judea for the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
by Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Phasael'

Start a new discussion about 'Phasael'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Phasael (died 40 BC) (Latin

Latin

Herodian Dynasty

The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumea descent, who ruled Iudaea Province between 37 BC - AD 92....
of Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a 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 ....
.

Origins and early career

Phasael was born in the Hasmonean Kingdom to a Jewish aristocratic family of Edomite descent. His father, Antipater the Idumaean

Antipater the Idumaean

Hasmonean

Hyrcanus II

Herod the Great

Procurator

Procurator may refer to:In historical uses:*Promagistrate, an appointed position in the Roman Republic by the Senate, acting in place of a curator...
of Judea for the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
by Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. Antipater appointed Phasael to be governor of Jerusalem, and Herod governor of Galilee. When Phasael's brother Herod

Herod the Great

Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel....
he meant to come to Jerusalem with an army and make war, however Antipater and Phasael managed to convince him to be satisfied with making threats of force.

While Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
was in Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thrace Bosporus and the Euxine ....
about 41 BC, accusations were brought before him against the two brothers, who were objects of hatred to many Jews, but the shrewd Herod succeeded in obtaining the dismissal of the charges. It was impossible, however, for the Sanhedrin

Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel....
to rest content with the administrations of Herod and Phasael; and charges were again brought against them before Antony at Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the nearer East and was a cradle of gentile hi...
. Once more the accusations proved to be fruitless, for Antony was indebted to Antipater, while even the weak Hyrcanus II pleaded for them. This led Antony to appoint the pair tetrarch

Tetrarch

Tetrarch is a Greek language term for a holder of Roman Emperor office under a Tetrarchy. It was applied earlier to rulers of minor principalities owing allegiance to Rome....
s.

Revolt of Antigonus and Phasael's downfall

Meanwhile Antigonus the Hasmonean

Antigonus the Hasmonean

Antigonus II Mattathias was the son of King Aristobulus II of Judea. In 40 BC he led, along with Barzapharnes, a Parthian-supported invasion of Judea, seized Jerusalem, and sent his uncle Hyrcanus II to Babylon in chains ....
endeavored to seize the Jewish throne; and in Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
there were frequent conflicts between his retainers and those of the two brothers, which were especially perilous on the Jewish Feast of Shavuot

Shavuot

is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan . Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day Names of God in Judaism#In English gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai....
. Phasael defended the walls, and Herod the palace, thus routing their antagonists, whereupon Antigonus invoked the aid of the Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

The Arsacid Empire , was a significant political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
. In spite of Herod's warning, Phasael allowed himself to be lured with Hyrcanus to the camp of the Parthian leader Barzapharnes

Barzapharnes

Barzapharnes was a Parthian Empire general during the latter half of the first century BCE. In 40 BCE Barzapharnes commanded a Parthian invasion of the Levant, commanded and aided by Pacorus who allied himself with the Roman outlaw Quintus Labienus and seized Syria....
under the pretext of peace talks. Both Hyrcanus and Phasael were imprisoned. They were then handed over to Antigonus, who caused Hyrcanus to be mutilated

Mutilation

Mutilation or maiming is an act or physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of the body, usually without causing death....
, a disgrace which Phasael escaped by dashing out his own brains, having the satisfaction of knowing before he died that his brother Herod had escaped from Jerusalem and was safe.

Legacy

Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, 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....
speaks of Phasael as a brave and noble man. His son, who likewise bore the name Phasael, and seems to have been posthumous, married Herod's daughter Salampsio, by whom he had five children. The son of Herod by Pallas was called Phasael by Herod, who likewise honored his brother's memory by naming a city northeast of Jericho "Phasaelis," and a tower of his palace at Jerusalem "Phasaelus."