Antipater the Idumaean Becomes Roman Procurator of Judea

​Josephus, Antiquities 14.1.3

‍“There was a certain friend of Hyrcanus’s, an Idumean, called Antipater; who was very rich, and in his nature an active and a seditious man: who was at enmity with Aristobulus…”

Antipater the Idumean, whose father had been forcibly converted to Judaism in the time of John Hyrcanus, was governor of Idumea under King Alexander Jannaeus and Queen Salome of Alexandria.  After their deaths, he became the chief advisor to their son Hyrcanus, spurring him against his brother Aristobulus, out of his own ambition for political power. Hyrcanus was a weak figure who could neither administer the affairs of Judea, nor collect its taxes allowing Antipater to insinuate himself into the halls of power.

By the time Pompey instituted Hyrcanus as High Priest in 63 BCE, Hyrcanus was but a puppet to Antipater. Antipater led the Jews to rescue Julius Caesar in Egypt in 47 BCE. This show of loyalty persuaded Caesar to appoint Antipater the first Roman Procurator of Judea.   Antipater appointed his son Phasael governor of Jerusalem and his son Herod governor of Galilee. Pictured here is the ancient city of Maresha near Beit Shemesh which was one of the major cities of the Idumeans and consists of thousands of man-made caves, mostly cut out of the soft limestone predominant in the area.