6 CE–135 CE → 6–9 CE Coponius 64-66 CE Gessius Florus Founded 6 AD | Capital Caesarea Maritima 26–36 CE Pontius Pilate 117 CE Lusius Quietus Historical era Principate | |
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The Roman province of Judea (Hebrew: יהודה, Yehuda Yehûḏāh; Arabic: يهودا; Greek: Ἰουδαία; Latin: Iūdaea), sometimes spelled in its original Latin forms of Judæa, Judaea or Iudaea to distinguish it from the geographical region of Judea, incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, and extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after Herod Archelaus's Tetrarchy of Judea, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory. The name "Judea" was derived from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE.
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Judea province was the scene of unrest at its founding in 6 CE during the Census of Quirinius and several wars were fought in its history, known as the Jewish–Roman wars. The Temple was destroyed in 70 CE as part of the Great Jewish Revolt resulting in the institution of the Fiscus Judaicus, and after Bar Kokhba's revolt (132–135), the Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, which certain scholars conclude was an attempt to remove the relationship of the Jewish people to the region.
Relations with Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties
The first intervention of Rome in the region dates from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War, when Rome made a province of Syria. After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus, Pompey (Pompey the Great) sacked Jerusalem and established Hasmonean prince Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch and High Priest, but he was denied the title of King. A later appointment by Julius Caesar was Antipater the Idumaean, also known as Antipas, as the first Roman Procurator. Herod the Great, Antipater's son, was designated "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE. He did not gain military control until 37 BCE. During his reign the last representatives of the Hasmoneans were eliminated, and the great port of Caesarea Maritima was built.
He died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was divided mostly among three of his sons, who became tetrarchs ("rulers of a quarter part", or in this case rather of "thirds"). One of these tetrarchies was Judea corresponding to the territory of the historic Judea, plus Samaria and Idumea. Herod's son Herod Archelaus, ruled Judea so badly that he was dismissed in 6 CE by the Roman emperor Augustus, after an appeal from his own population. Another, Herod Antipas, ruled as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE to 39 CE, being then dismissed by Caligula. The third tetrarch, Herod's son Philip, ruled over the northeastern part of his father's kingdom.
Judea as Roman province(s)
In 6 CE Archelaus' tetrachy (Judea, plus Samaria and Idumea) came under direct Roman administration. Even though Iudaea is simply derived from the Latin for Judea, many historians use it to distinguish the Roman province from the previous territory and history. Iudaea province did not initially include Galilee, Gaulanitis (the Golan), nor Peraea or the Decapolis. Its revenue was of little importance to the Roman treasury, but it controlled the land and coastal sea routes to the bread basket Egypt and was a border province against the Parthian Empire because of the Jewish connections to Babylonia (since the Babylonian exile). The capital was at Caesarea (Maritima), not Jerusalem. Quirinius became Legate (Governor) of Syria and conducted the first Roman tax census of Syria and Iudaea, which was opposed by the Zealots. Iudaea was not a Senatorial province, nor exactly an Imperial province, but instead was a "satellite of Syria" governed by a prefect who was a knight of the equestrian order (as was Roman Egypt), not a former consul or praetor of senatorial rank. Pontius Pilate, whose name was recorded in the Pilate Stone, was one of these prefects, from 26 to 36 CE. Still, Jews living in the province maintained some form of independence and could judge offenders by their own laws, including capital offences, until c. 28 CE. The Province of Judea, during the late 2nd Temple period was also divided into five conclaves, or administrative districts: 1) Jerusalem (ירושלם), 2) Gadara (גדרה), 3) Amathus (עמתו), 4) Jericho (יריחו), 5) Sepphoris ( צפורין).
Caiaphas was one of the appointed High Priests of Herod's Temple, being appointed by the Prefect Valerius Gratus in 18. Both were deposed by the Syrian Legate Lucius Vitellius in 36 CE.
The 'Crisis under Caligula' (37–41) has been proposed as the first open break between Rome and the Jews.
Between 41 and 44 CE, Iudaea regained its nominal autonomy, when Herod Agrippa was made King of the Jews by the emperor Claudius, thus in a sense restoring the Herodian Dynasty, though there is no indication Iudaea ceased to be a Roman province simply because it no longer had a prefect. Claudius had decided to allow, across the empire, procurators, who had been personal agents to the Emperor often serving as provincial tax and finance ministers, to be elevated to governing magistrates with full state authority to keep the peace. He elevated Iudaeas's procurator whom he trusted to imperial governing status because the imperial legate of Syria was not sympathetic to the Judeans.
Following Agrippa's death in 44 CE, the province returned to direct Roman control, incorporating Agrippa's personal territories of Galilee and Peraea, under a row of procurators. Nevertheless, Agrippa's son, Agrippa II was designated King of the Jews in 48. He was the seventh and last of the Herodians.
From 70 CE until 135 CE, Iudaea's rebelliousness required a governing Roman legate capable of commanding legions. Because Agrippa II maintained loyalty to the Empire, the Kingdom was retained until he died, either in 93/94 or 100, when the area returned to complete, undivided Roman Empire control.
Judaea was the stage of two, possibly three major rebellions against Roman rule :
Following the suppression of Bar Kokhba's revolt, the emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem became Aelia Capitolina which Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson states was done to erase the historical ties of the Jewish people to the region.
Under Diocletian (284-305) the region was divided into three provinces :