RELG 433 - Biblical Archaeology
Course Notes
Module 14
The Roman Republic
The Herodian Dynasty
At the time Alexander set out to conquer the world in 333 BC, the Mediterranean was controlled by the Carthaginians. Rome was a small city in Italy, struggling for supremacy against other cities in Italy.
By 265 BC Rome had control of most of Italy, though some of the conquered Latin tribes were still rebellious, and Rome started to colonize the island of Sicily.
Carthage was directly to the south of Sicily, and had also started to move into the island. Inevitably, Romans and Carthaginians collided, and hostilities ensued.
Initially, Carthage had the advantage - the Carthaginians were descendents of the Phoenicians and had centuries of experience with ships; the Romans had no navy, and did not know how to fight on the sea. However, a Carthaginian ship was wrecked in a gale on the coast of Italy, and the Romans captured it and used it to work out how to build a good fighting ship. With particular single-mindedness, the Romans conscripted their young men to learn to sail a ship and to fight on the sea.
The wars between Rome and Carthage lasted for more than a century. During the Second Punic War, Rome was again nearly defeated, when the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy by crossing the Alps with his army - which included elephants.
The Latin tribes, who had been dominated by Rome, had promised to rise against Rome if Hannibal invaded, but they did not keep their promises, and eventually Hannibal was cut off from his line of supply, and a war of attrition ensued. There is an account of Hannibal on the run, leading his men through the swamp lands outside Rome, plagued by mosquitos and malaria, with one eye so infected that he lost the sight in it. He managed to retreat back to Carthage, but by then Rome was determined to annihilate him.
Carthage surrendered to Rome, and Hannibal fled - to the Phoenician homelands, which at that time were part of the Seleucid Empire. It is not clear whether Hannibal was killed, or whether he committed suicide, but no more is heard of him after 182 BC.
After the defeat of Carthage, and Hannibal's flight to Antiochus III, Rome's attention turned to the East. Their newly developed military and naval power enabled the Romans to gain supremacy, and by means of diplomatic and political maneuvers Rome took control of the whole of the Mediterranean. The Seleucid Empire was the main power in the eastern Mediterranean, so Rome set out to break it.
In Egypt, the Ptolemaic Dynasty became corrupt and weak. In 204 BC Ptolemy IV died, leaving his young son as Ptolemy V. Antiochus III took advantage of this weakness, and captured Syria and Palestine from Egypt. The decisive battle was fought at Banias in 198 BC.
Ptolemy V died in 181 BC at the age of 28, leaving a 6-year-old son to become Ptolemy VI. In 169 BC Antiochus IV invaded Egypt, and the country was further divided by civil war. At this point Ptolemy VI appealed for help from Rome, and the Romans took Egypt under their "protection" and drove Antiochus IV back to Syria.
Rome took more and more control over Egypt, until by 59 BC Ptolemy XII resorted to bribing Rome to allow him to be king of Egypt. Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, and his 17-year-old daughter Cleopatra VII claimed the throne.
Cleopatra understood how to play politics with Rome - she had an affair with Julius Caesar, even to the extent of having him set her up in a palace in Rome in opposition to his legal Roman wife, and having a son and a daughter by him. When Julius Caesar was murdered in 44 BC, Cleopatra transferred her attentions to Marc Antony.
By this time Herod the Great had become king of Judea.
Cleopatra wanted Palestine for herself, and tried to induce Marc Anthony to have Herod murdered. However, Marc Antony and Herod had known each other as teenagers when Herod was kept as a hostage in Rome, and had become friends. Marc Antony refused to kill Herod, but did let Cleopatra have Jericho and other parts of Herod's kingdom.
Cleopatra and Marc Antony continued their affair and their plotting to gain control of Rome itself, until Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's nephew and heir, caught their fleet of warships in the Bay of Actium, in Greece, and defeated them in 31 BC. They both committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner.
Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. On her death, Rome took complete control of Egypt. In 27 BC the Roman Senate gave Octavian the title of Augustus, and he continued to increase in power until he became Emperor of Rome.
In 161 BC the Hasmoneans of Judah decided to make a treaty of mutual friendship and support with the Romans, against the Seleucids, hoping that Rome would help them to stay independent if the Seleucids attacked.
Rome, however, started to play politics with various Jewish factions such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees, particularly with the two sons of Salome Alexandra, the Hasmonean Queen. In 63 BC the Roman general Pompey invaded and took control of Palestine, and appointed Hyrcanus, one of Salome Alexandra's sons, as high Priest in Jerusalem.
In 60 BC Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Crassus took control of Rome itself, and set up the First Triumvirate - rule by three men - "vir" is Latin for "man". That lasted until 53 BC, when Crassus was killed in battle against the Parthians, in what is now Afghanistan.
Caesar and Pompey started a civil war for control of Rome, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was killed by Cleopatra's brother, who was claiming the throne of Egypt as Ptolemy XIII.
Caesar had pursued Pompey to Egypt, and it was there that he met Cleopatra. Ptolemy XIII raised an army against Caesar, but Antipater, the father of the future Herod the Great, sent armed forces to Caesar's aid. Because of this help, Caesar favored Antipater, granted him Roman citizenship, and made him Procurator of Palestine.
Antipater had been the governor of the Jewish region of Idumea, to the south of Jerusalem. The family of Herod were Idumeans who had been forcibly converted to Judaism. When Herod the Great was made "King of the Jews" by the Romans, he rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. Because he was not of pure Jewish lineage, Herod was only allowed to enter the outer court of the Gentiles. So he built a high wall with a walk-way on top, so that he could look down into the courts of the Temple.
Herod the Great, the son of Antipater, had been a friend of Marc Antony, but when Mark Antony was defeated by Octavian, Herod managed to convince Octavian of his loyalty to Rome. Octavian, as the Emperor Augustus, confirmed Herod's title of "King of the Jews" and not only restored to him the lands which Cleopatra had taken but also granted him other territories to the east and north of his original kingdom.
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
