HOW THE COUNTRY WAS GOVERNED, FROM B.C. 47 TO A.D. 66.

IT will be necessary to give a brief outline of the manner in which Palestine was governed during the period now under consideration. In B.C. 47, Herod, then a young man twenty-five years of age, was appointed by his father. Antipater, military governor of Galilee, and his brother, Phasaelus, military governor of Judaea. In B.C. 41, Phasaelus and Herod were appointed by Antony tetrarchs of Judaea, i.e. of the whole province west of the Jordan. In B.C. 40, Phasaelus was taken prisoner by the Parthians, who had invaded Syria, sweeping the country as far south as Jerusalem; and, rather than suffer indignities and cruelties from his barbarian enemies, he put an end to his own life even while his hands were bound. The same year Herod was declared king of Judaea by the Roman Senate, although it was not until three years later, or in B.C. 37, that he became master of his kingdom, and entered upon his reign. He died in Jericho, April i, B.C. 4, at the age of seventy. The same year Archelaus, Herod's son, was appointed by Augustus ethnarch of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea. At the same time Augustus appointed Herod Antipas, Archelaus's brother, tetrarch of Peraea and Galilee, and Herod Philip, half-brother of Archelaus and Antipas, tetrarch of Batanaea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Paneas, and Gaulanitis. Luke in his Gospel¹, speaking in a general way, mentions only Trachonitis and Ituraea. In A.D. 6, Archelaus was banished by Augustus, and Judaea came directly under the Romans. In A.D. 33, Herod Philip died, and was buried in Eastern Bethsaida. In A.D. 32, Herod Antipas was banished, his wife Herodias going with him into exile. In A.D. 37, Herod Agrippa I., grandson of Herod the Great, was by the emperor Caligula made 'king' of Trachonitis, i.e. of the region which had been Herod Philip's tetrarchy. In A.D. 41, Claudius added to his dominions Judaea and Samaria, with Abilene, i.e. the tetrarchy of Lysanias, and the parts about Libanus. In A.D. 44, King Agrippa persecuted the Christians, beheaded James the brother of John, and arrested Peter. The same year, however, Agrippa died in a strange manner at Caesarea on the sea-coast. The account of his violent disease and sudden painful death is given byjosephus², and also in the twelfth chapter of the Acts. In the latter place will be found the details of Peter's miraculous escape from his imprisonment. Agrippa had been king of Judaea from A.D. 41 to 44. Judaea came again directly under the Romans. In A.D. 53, Agrippa II., son of the former, was by Claudius made 'king' of Herod Philip's tetrarchy — Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis, Batanaea, and Abilene. In A.D. 55, Agrippa II. received from Nero, in addition to the country already under his dominion, the cities of Tiberias and Tarichaea in Galilee, and Julias, together with fourteen villages about it, and Abila, all of which were in Peraea. In A.D. 60, he heard Paul's defence at Caesarea, the place just mentioned, where his father had died. He rendered great service to Vespasian during the Jewish war, taking sides against his country.

Some points to be remembered as of special importance are the following: — 1. That Herod Antipas was the only civil ruler to whom Christ was subject. 2. The very long reign of Herod Antipas. 3. The long reign of the mild and prosperous ruler Herod Philip. 4. That Judaea from A.D. 6 to A.D. 66, the time of the revolution, was governed by Roman officials, with the exception of from A.D. 41 to A.D. 44, when Herod Agrippa I. was king. The fact that Judaea was thus governed will hereafter be seen to be of great importance in estimating the contrast between affairs there and those in Galilee during the same period.

1) Luke iii. i.

2) Ant., XIX. viii. 2.