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The Herodians: House of Herod

Note: Flavius Josephus (37-99? ) authored the most important secular ancient sources (the Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities) for the rule of the Herodians. 

Maps source: First Century Judaea
Click maps to enlarge.
Herod the Great
42-4 BC
Early years
Herod's Reign

Coin of king Herod the Great.
Coin of King Herod the Great

  • Born 73 BC of both Jewish and Edomite ancestry.
  • Following Julius Caesar's murder in 44 BC, Mark Anthony awarded Herod with the title of tetrarch of Galilee (42 BC). In 37 BC, he assumed the title of basileus, the highest possible title. He boasted to be philokaisar ('the emperor's friend').
  • Began an extensive building program in an around Jerusalem: extended the walls and citadels of Jerusalem, reconstructed the Temple,  and built a new market, an amphitheater, a theater, a new royal palace (Paul was held prisoner there. Acts 23:25; NKJV), and a new building where the Sanhedrin could convene.
  • Founded Caesarea (9 BC) in honor of the Caesar Augustus. (The harbor was called Sebastos, the Greek translation of 'Augustus.')
  • Executed his sons Aristobulus (7 BC) and Antipater (4 BC), causing the emperor Augustus to joke that it was preferable to be Herod's pig (hus) than his son (huios).
  • When he heard that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, Herod sent men to kill all of  the babies there. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt.(Mat. 2; NKJV)
  • After his death in 4 BCE, the kingdom was divided among his sons. Herod Antipas was to rule Galilee and the east bank of the Jordan as a tetrarch; Philip was to be tetrarch of the Golan heights in the north-east; and Archelaus became the ethnarch ('national leader') of Samaria and Judaea. (Luke 3:1-2, NKJV)
Map of Judaea under king Herod the Great. Copyright Jona Lendering.
Herod's Kingdom
Herod Archelaus
Samaria and Judaea
4 BC -  6 AD
Coin of Herod Archelaus.
Coin of Herod Archelaus
  • Born in 23 BC. 
  • Together with his half-brothers Philip and Herod Antipas, he was educated at Rome.
  • Succeeded Herod the Great as ruler in Samaria and Judaea.
  • Upon returning from Egypt, Joseph led his family to live in Galilee to avoid him. (Mat. 2:21-23; NKJV)
  • Ruled so badly that the Judaeans and Samaritans united to appeal to Rome to depose him.
  • Sent into exile to Vienne in Gaul by Caesar Augustus.
Map of Judaea under the sons of king Herod the Great. Copyright Jona Lendering.
Herod's kingdom divided
Herod Antipas
Galilee
4 BC - 39 AD
Coin of Herod Antipas.
Coin of Herod Antipas
  • Founded a new capital (17 BC), Tiberias, to honor the Roman emperor, Tiberias.
  • Known to have celebrated Passover and Succoth in Jerusalem, but his subjects were not convinced of his piety. Jesus compared him to a fox (Luke 13:31-33; NKJV) and warned His disciples about Herod's "unleaven." (Mark 8:15 , NKJV)
  • Married his brother's ex-wife who happened to be the daughter of his half-brother. When John the Baptist criticized the king for marrying a woman who was both his sister-in-law and his niece, he was killed. (Mat. 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:7-9; NKJV)
  • The Pharisees plotted with the Herodians to destroy Jesus. (Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26, Mat. 22:15-22; NKJV)
  • When sent to him, by Pontius Pilate, Jesus refused to answer his questions. Herod  mocked Him and sent him back to Pilate (Luke 23:7-12; NKJV)
  • Eventually exiled to Lyon in Gaul by Claudius. Herod Agrippa succeeded him.
Philip
Golan heights/Syria
4 BC - 34 AD
Coin of Philip; reverse, a pagan temple.
Coin of Philip
  • Among his subjects, the Jews were a minority; most were of Syrian or Arabian descent.
  • Known for his moderation and quietness in the conduct of his life and government. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 18.106)
  • Caligula, who succeeded Tiberias, appointed Philip's nephew Herod Agrippa to rule his principalities.
Herod Agrippa
Agrippa I
37-44 AD
Coin of king Agrippa I, showing him as 'friend of the Romans'.
Coin of Herod Agrippa
  • His father, Aristobulus, was executed in 7 BC by Herod the Great.
  • Received a Roman education with the princes Caligula and Claudius, who were later emperors.
  • Caligula appointed him "king" of Philip's realm (37 AD). He was the first to be called king since his grandfather, Herod the Great, who had died almost forty years earlier.
  • When his brother Herod Antipas tried to steal his realm, Caligula intervened: Antipas was exiled to Gaul and his realm, Galilee and Peraea, was given to Agrippa (39 AD).
  • Claudius, who followed Caligula, added Judaea and Samaria were added to Herod Agrippa's realm in 41 AD. He was now king of all the territories that had once been ruled by Herod the Great. Jerusalem made the capital again.
  • Killed James and imprisoned Peter. (Acts 12:1-19, NKJV)
  • Died unexpectedly in 44 AD. (Acts 12:20-23, NKJV; Josephus' account)
  • Succeeded in some of his territories by his son Julius Marcus Agrippa.
Map of Judaea under king Herod Agrippa I. Copyright Jona Lendering.
Agrippa's kingdom
Julius Marcus Agrippa
Agrippa II
48-100 AD
Coin of king Agrippa II.
Coin of Agrippa II
  • At his father's death (44 AD), he was too young to be king; and his father's territories became a Roman province.
  • In 48, he inherited some territory from his uncle. 
  • In 58, Claudius added the Golan heights and several adjacent countries to his realm.
  • One year later, Claudius' successor Nero added the city of Tiberias (the capital of Galilee) and parts of the east bank of the river Jordan.
  • Met the Apostle Paul in Caesarea (58 AD).
  • In the unrest in Jerusalem in 65 - 68 AD, Agrippa II sided with the Romans. He returned in 70 AD to witness Jerusalem's destruction by Titus.
  • Continued to rule for another 25 years. There was not much left that would have made him a Jewish king: the temple was destroyed, his realm was situated in Syria; and only a few of his inhabitants were Jews.
  • He left no known descendants. The Herodian dynasty ends.
Map of Judaea c. Agrippa II
Map of Judaea
(c. Agrippa II's reign)

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