Was the fate of Judea as a Roman province sealed from the moment Julius Caesar switched sides in the Hasmonean leadership struggle? Or could Herod’s brutal path to kingship still have been blocked? Either way, 47–46 BCE marked a turning point in Jewish history

Among the power struggles that turned the Republic of Rome into the Roman Empire in the first century BCE, some of the bitterest were resolved in today’s Middle East. Pompey, Octavius, and Mark Anthony were all involved, and Julius Caesar was no exception. By early 47 BCE, Caesar was more or less in control of the empire. His rival Pompey had been assassinated in Egypt, and Caesar himself had scored a victory there in a major local conflict known as the Alexandrine War (in which he rescued and “befriended” the notorious Queen Cleopatra). From Egypt, Caesar proceeded swiftly to Turkish lands to fight other enemies of Rome (the original “Veni, vidi, vinci” campaign). On the way, Roman historians record, he met with various eastern Mediterranean leaders, reaching agreements with those he deemed best able to act as loyal vassals of Rome.

 

Settling the Jews

The Roman Jewish historian Josephus, reporting on events just beyond his living memory, tells us that these contacts included discussions with parties interested in Jewry in Judea and the Roman diaspora. (Tantalizing as it is to suppose that these talks took place on Jewish soil, there’s no proof that Caesar ever actually set foot in Judea. (See “Caesar’s Footprints” ) As elsewhere, Caesar supported the head of the existing dynasty – in this case, the Hasmonean Hyrcanus, high priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. Caesar declared him and his descendants “ethnarchs of the Jews forever,” making them the sole arbiters of Jewish life. 

According to Antiquities XIV, Caesar also empowered Hyrcanus to defend Jewry and Judaism in the Roman Republic. At the same time, Caesar decreed that the high priest’s long-term counselor, Antipater, already governor of his native Edom, should rule Judea, then consisting of three distinct areas (see map). A Roman citizen, Antipater was presumably expected to impose order and taxes in a manner that suited Roman interests.

Antipater did “settle the country,” to quote Josephus, though the local Jewish leadership was incensed that a member of a subject people should gain such prominence. The Hasmonean dynasty was in disarray after the civil war of succession between Hyrcanus and his brother Aristobulus had essentially been decided by Julius Caesar’s triumph over Pompey. Aristobulus had been murdered en route from Rome to Judea, and his only surviving son, Antigonus, had been rejected by Caesar and was seemingly in permanent exile in Lebanon. Though nominally in control, Hyrcanus left the governance to Antipater, who was accused of passing revenues unchecked to Rome.