Session 1 - Lecture #5
Palestine Under Roman Rule (continued)
The provinces that Rome conquered and ruled were largely divided into two
categories: imperial and senatorial. Senatorial provinces were those that were not
exposed to any serious danger and did not demand maximum military
preparedness. Proconsuls were appointed for one-year terms in these provinces
by the Roman Senate. In his travels the Apostle Paul spent time in a number of
senatorial provinces including Asia, Achaia, and Macedonia. Acts 18 records his
personal encounter with the proconsul Lucius Junius Gallio in Corinth. The
imperial provinces were the unruly ones or areas of extreme sensitivity such as
Egypt, the source of much of Rome’s food. Governors, who were appointed by
the emperor for an indefinite time, reported directly to him.
The Roman army was distributed among the imperial provinces as the emperor
thought best. The army was divided into two basic elements: the legion and the
auxiliary troops. Legions were comprised of approximately 5,000 soldiers, who
were Roman citizens. By the end of the reign of Augustus, there were 25 legions
in the Roman Empire. Auxiliaries were generally organized in cohorts -- some of
500 men and some of 1,000. Except for the officers (Acts 22:28), soldiers in the
auxiliary troops were not Roman citizens but were granted citizenship after they
were discharged.
Judea was considered an imperial province, but no legion was permanently
stationed there. There are several reasons for this, one being its small size. Also
Judea was surrounded by other Roman provinces and client states of the Empire.
It was not threatened by external enemies, and auxiliary troops seemed adequate
to safeguard order in the new province. In the event of a serious crisis, it was
possible to summon aid from Syria, where four legions were stationed. Syria was
the principal military base of the Roman Empire in the East. The legions there
were responsible for defending the Empire from Parthian attacks. From the
writings of this period, it also seems that the Roman governor of Syria at times
had some authority over Judea, too. In the end, some of those legions would be
needed in Judea. What seemed reasonable to Augustus in AD 6, when the
province was first established, did not hold to be true. Sixty years later four
Roman legions plus additional auxiliary troops would be used in the siege of
Jerusalem during the Jewish revolt.
The major military force stationed in Palestine in Jesus’ day, made up of infantry
and cavalry, was probably about 3,000 strong. The provincial capital of Caesarea
was also the military headquarters and the place where most of the troops were
concentrated. Many of the soldiers were recruited from the Gentile population in
this area since the Jews were exempt from military duty. Troops patrolled the
province and were stationed at important fortresses. One cohort was generally
stationed in Jerusalem, at least during the major festivals to keep order. As one
might expect, tension was constant between the military and the Jewish
population. It was also the practice of Roman authorities in time of need to seize
men and beasts for public service, which incensed the people greatly. One
instance of this practice can be seen at Jesus’ crucifixion, when Simon of Cyrene
was forced by Roman soldiers to carry the cross (Mt 27:32; Mk 15:21; Lk
23:26). It is noteworthy that Jesus and his disciples found among the Roman
soldiers at least some men of faith who trusted in the Lord (Mt 8:5; Acts 10:7).
While Judea was being ruled by a Roman governors, Galilee was in the hands of
the Jewish prince Antipas, son of Herod the Great (Lk 3:1). In the Gospels he is
often called “Herod the tetrarch” (Mt 14:1). Antipas was the ablest of Herod’s
sons politically and ruled Galilee and Perea for more than 40 years (4 BC to AD
39). He built a city on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, which was to serve as
the capital of the area he ruled. He named the city Tiberias after the reigning
emperor, and the name later was extended to the sea as well (Jn 6:1, 23; 21:1).
He was first married to a daughter of the Nabataean king, but later he divorced
her and remarried Herodias, who had been the wife of one of his half-brothers.*
This arrangement came under the scrutiny of John the Baptist’s preaching, and at
the urging of Herodias, Herod Antipas arrested and imprisoned John the Baptist
(Mk 6:17-19). She later succeeded in having him executed through the influence
of her daughter by her first husband (Mk 6:21-29). Though this daughter is not
named in the Gospel accounts, she is often identified as Salome, who later
married her grand-uncle Philip the tetrarch.
(* Though this half-brother is named Philip in Matthew and Mark, he is not to be
confused with Philip the tetrarch, a different half-brother. This Philip was
Herod’s son by Mariamne II, one of Herod’s 10 wives. See the genealogical
chart.)
When Jesus later appeared on the scene, Herod Antipas thought that the
beheaded John the Baptist had risen from the dead (Mk 6:14-16). He expressed a
desire to see this miracle worker (Lk 9:7-9), but his curiosity changed to hatred
as Jesus’ popularity grew. Since Herod Antipas wanted to kill this new
troublemaker as well, some advised Jesus to leave the territory. But Jesus would
not let this “fox” or anything else deter him from his mission (Lk 13:31,32). The
opportunity for Herod Antipas to meet Jesus personally finally came after Jesus
was arrested in Jerusalem. The Jews had turned him over to Pilate. When Pilate
learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent him to Herod Antipas, who was also
in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Antipas was pleased at the opportunity
to question Jesus and hoped to see him perform a miracle. But Jesus gave him no
reply, even in the face of false accusations. After ridiculing and mocking him,
Antipas sent Jesus back to Pilate (Lk 23:6-12). Interestingly enough, Luke also
mentions that the two rulers—one Jewish and one Roman, who formerly had
been rival enemies, became friends as a result of this exchange. In the end Herod
Antipas’ persuasive wife Herodias led to his own downfall as well. She
convinced her husband to ask the reigning emperor Caligula to bestow upon him
the title of king. Caligula, however, became suspicious and had Herod Antipas
exiled in AD 39.
Philip, son of Herod the Great by his wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem, ruled justly
and peaceably in the northern part of the Transjordan (Lk 3:1). He married
Salome, the daughter of Herodias, and had no children. He built himself a new
residence north of the Sea of Galilee, which he named in honor of the Roman
emperor. It was commonly called Caesarea Philippi (Philip’s Caesarea) to
distinguish it from the larger city of that name on the Mediterranean coast. It was
near this city where the Gospels record Peter’s great confession of faith (Mt
16:13; Mk 8:27).
Since the populace that Philip governed was only in small part Jewish, he was
able to mint coins (emperor Tiberius) with the likeness of the Roman emperor.
Coins Minted by Philip
He also established the city of Bethsaida and made it into a winter residence.
This city was also the home of several of Jesus’ disciples (Jn 1:44) as well as the
vicinity for a number of Jesus’ miracles (Mk 8:22; Lk 9:10). Here Philip died in
AD 34, and for a few years his region was joined to the Roman province of
Syria.
After the rule of Herod’s three sons in their respective parts of the kingdom,
there was a brief period when all of Palestine came back together under a Jewish
king. Agrippa, a grandson of Herod, had spent his childhood and youth in Rome
and had won the friendship of Caligula. When Caligula became emperor,
Agrippa was awarded the territory that Philip had ruled in the northern part of
the Transjordan. Two years later Caligula also gave Agrippa the land of the
exiled Herod Antipas—Galilee and Perea. After the murder of Caligula in AD
41, the new emperor Claudius also assigned to Agrippa the rule over Judea,
Samaria, and Idumea, which had been ruled by Archelaus until AD 6 and
afterwards by Roman governors.
To the Jews, Herod Agrippa represented himself as a devout Jew and won the
favor of the religious leaders. He persecuted the Christian community in
Jerusalem, had James the son of Zebedee executed, and had Peter thrown in
prison (Acts 12:1-3). Toward the Hellenistic population of his kingdom Herod
Agrippa behaved as a divine Hellenistic prince and conducted building projects
to win favor among the Gentiles. After his sudden death in Caesarea in AD 44
(Acts 12:19-23), his entire kingdom was not given to his son but was annexed to
the Roman province of Syria and ruled by Roman governors, who once again
took up their official seat in Caesarea.
Agrippa’s son Agrippa II is also mentioned in the NT. Some years later he
received the territory that Philip had once ruled. In addition Agrippa II was also
given the right to oversee the temple in Jerusalem, though he was not ruler over
Judea. Despite some formal gestures, he apparently had little religious interest,
and his intimate relationship with his sister Bernice was the subject of
widespread scandal. On a visit to the governor of Judea, Agrippa II and Bernice
had the opportunity to interview Paul who was being held prisoner in Caesarea.
It was the judgment of Agrippa II that Paul could have been set free had he not
appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:13-26:32). Among the Roman governors who ruled
Judea after the time of Agrippa I, two are mentioned in the NT. One of those is
Porcius Festus whom Agrippa II and Bernice had come to visit in Caesarea. He
came into office probably in the year AD 60 and governed until his death in AD
62. This period covered the last part of Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea. The
other governor in the NT was Felix who preceded Festus as governor of Judea.
He received his office in AD 52 through the favor of Emperor Claudius. His
second wife was the Jewish princess Drusilla, the daughter of Agrippa I. It was
during the rule of Felix that Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and tried in Caesarea.
Felix was well-acquainted with the Christian movement. With his wife he sent
for Paul, and they listened to him speak about faith in Christ. This happened on
more than one occasion, but because he wanted to please the Jews, Felix left
Paul in prison at the end of his term in office (Acts 24:1-27).
From your readings you should have a good overview of the political situation in
Rome during the period of the New Testament. Jesus was born during the reign
of Herod the Great, a client king of Rome. Herod was ruling when in 27 BC
Octavian became the first emperor, who was also known as Caesar Augustus. In
general, it matter little to the average person in Palestine who actually was the
current emperor in Rome. Their direct Roman contact came through the presence
of Roman troops and the governor or ruler who was responsible for enforcing
their laws and keeping the peace. The chart below briefly lists the order of the
emperors in the first century AD. This is a period of intrigue and often disgust as
recorded by Suetonius in his Lives of the Caesars (see NTW, p. 296).
(Click here for the website of 12 Caesars and here for the arch of Titus in Rome)