A divided kingdom and a dynasty without legitimacy
Date
4BCE
4 BCE – 70 CE
Herod's sons and grandsons stayed close to Rome for over a century, but could not contain the tensions, and the dynasty essentially disappeared with the Temple in 70 CE.
Sourced narrative
Each block is a verifiable statement. The number opens the cited page; amber or coral blocks flag tradition or contested interpretation.
5 statements
01The division of the kingdom
After Herod died, three sons shared out the kingdom. Archelaus received Judea, Samaria and Idumea and ruled from 4 BCE to 6 CE; Herod Antipas got Galilee and Perea, to the north, from 4 BCE to 39 CE; Herod Philip got the Golan, in the far north, from 4 BCE to 33 or 34 CE. Archelaus governed so badly that Augustus exiled him to Gaul; his brothers did better.
02Agrippa I and Agrippa II
In 37 CE the dynasty had a short revival under Agrippa I, Herod's grandson, popular in Judea for his religious zeal; he died as early as 44 CE. Agrippa II, his successor, and his sister Berenice lost control of Jerusalem, which rebelled in 66. After the war of 66 to 70 CE and the fall of the Temple, Herodian power practically ceased to exist.
03The price of Roman protection
Roman backing explains why the Herodians lasted over a hundred years, but it may also explain why so many subjects rejected them. Moreover, every failure, like that of Archelaus, forced Rome to take closer control, which made the tension worse. One cannot generalize from Josephus. Rome won over the Jewish elite (Herodians, high priests, aristocrats like Philo) to serve as a bridge to the people; but outside that circle, and even inside it, many hated the Romans for their cruelty, their neglect of tradition and their taxes. The uprisings after Herod's death show that Rome's formula was failing.
Context
The relationship with Rome varied by region: Galileans seem to have accepted Roman rule somewhat more readily than the Jews of Judea. Even so, conflicts in Judea affected Jews across the empire.
§ 01Geography
Where it happened
§ 04Network
Connections
§ 05Bibliography
Further reading
No specific reading recorded for this event.
§ 06Apparatus
Sources on this page
- 01Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 94; Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 94inspect
- 02Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 94; Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 520inspect
- 03Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 94inspect
- 04Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 95; Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 95inspect
- 05Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 95inspect
- Documented evidenceAttested by contemporary evidence: texts, inscriptions, coins, papyri or archaeology.
- Scholarly reconstructionHistorians' inference from indirect evidence.
- Tradition or narrativeA literary, traditional or religious account; significant in itself, but not independently verified.
- Contested interpretationScholars explicitly disagree; see the positions in the debate.
- Illustrative reconstructionA hypothesis or visual scheme to guide reading; not a historical claim.