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org/wiki/Judea_(Roman_province)

Coordinates: 32°30′N 34°54′E

Judea (Roman province)

The Roman province of Judea (/dʒuːˈdiːə/;
Hebrew: ‫יהודה‬, Standard Yehuda Tiberian Yehûḏāh; PROVINCIA IVDAEA
Greek: Ἰουδαία Ioudaia; Latin: Iūdaea), sometimes ἐπαρχία Ιουδαίας
spelled in its original Latin forms of Iudæa or Province of the Roman Empire
Iudaea to distinguish it from the geographical
region of Judea, incorporated the regions of Judea, 6 CE–135 CE
Samaria and Idumea, and extended over parts of the
former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian
kingdoms of Judea. 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.

According to the historian Josephus, immediately

following the deposition of Herod Archelaus in 6 CE,
Judea was turned into a Roman province, during
which time the Roman procurator was given
authority to punish by execution. The general
population also began to be taxed by Rome.[1] The
province of Judea was the scene of unrest at its
founding in 6 CE during the Census of Quirinius, the
Crucifixion of Jesus circa 30–33 CE, and several
wars, known as the Jewish–Roman wars, were Capital Caesarea Maritima
fought during its existence. The Second Temple of Area
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE
 • Coordinates 32°30′N 34°54′E
near the end of the First Jewish–Roman War, and
the Fiscus Judaicus was instituted. After the Bar Government
Kokhba revolt (132–135), the Roman Emperor Prefects  
Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria before 41,
Palaestina and the name of the city of Jerusalem to Procurators
Aelia Capitolina, which certain scholars conclude after 44
was an attempt to disconnect the Jewish people • 6–9 CE Coponius
from their homeland.[2][3] • 26–36 CE Pontius Pilate
• 64–66 CE Gessius Florus
• 117 CE Lusius Quietus

Contents • 130–132 CE
King of the
Tineius Rufus
 
Background Jews
Judea as Roman province(s) • 41–44 Agrippa I
Under a prefect (6-41) • 48–93/100 Agrippa II
Autonomy under Herod Agrippa (41-44) Legislature Synedrion/Sanhedrin
Under a procurator (44-66)
Historical era Roman Principate
Under a legate (70-132)

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• Census of 6 CE
Division into three provinces (135)
Quirinius
List of governors (CE 6–135) • Crucifixion of c. 30/33 CE
References Jesus
• Crisis under 37–41 CE
External links Caligula
• Incorporation 44 CE
of Galilee
Background and Peraea
• Destruction 4 August 70 CE
The first intervention of of the
Rome in the region Second
dates from 63 BCE, Temple
following the end of the • Governor of c. 74 CE
praetorian
Third Mithridatic War,
rank and
when Rome established
given the
the province of Syria. 10th Legion
After the defeat of • Bar Kokhba 132–135 CE 135 CE
Mithridates VI of revolt
Pontus, Pompey
(Pompey the Great) Preceded by Succeeded by
Pompey in the Temple of
sacked Jerusalem and
Jerusalem, by Jean Tetrarchy Syria
installed Hasmonean (Judea) Palaestina
Fouquet
prince Hyrcanus II as
Ethnarch and High
Before 4 August 70 is referred to as
Priest but not as king. Second Temple Judaism, from which
Some years later Julius Caesar appointed Antipater the Tannaim and Early Christianity
the Idumaean, also known as Antipas, as the first emerged.
Roman Procurator. Antipater's son Herod (Herod
the Great) was designated "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE[4] but he did
not gain military control until 37 BCE. During his reign the last representatives of the
Hasmoneans were eliminated, and the huge port of Caesarea Maritima was built.[5]

Herod died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was divided among three of his sons, two of whom
(Philip and Herod Antipas) became tetrarchs ('rulers of a quarter part'). The third son,
Archelaus, became an ethnarch and ruled over half of his father's kingdom.[6] One of these
principalities was Judea, corresponding to the territory of the historic Judea, plus Samaria
and Idumea.

Archelaus ruled Judea so badly that he was dismissed in 6 CE by the Roman emperor
Augustus, after an appeal from his own population. Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea
from 4   BCE was in 39 CE dismissed by Emperor Caligula. Herod's son Philip ruled the
northeastern part of his father's kingdom.[7]

Judea as Roman province(s)

Under a prefect (6-41)

In 6 CE Archelaus' tetrachy (Judea, plus Samaria and Idumea)[8] came under direct Roman
administration. The Judean province did not initially include Galilee, Gaulanitis (today's

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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" of Egypt and was a buffer against the
Parthian Empire. The capital was at Caesarea
Maritima,[9] not Jerusalem. Quirinius became
Legate (Governor) of Syria and conducted the first
Roman tax census of Syria and Judea, which was
opposed by the Zealots.[10] Judea was not a
senatorial province, nor an imperial province, but
instead was a "satellite of Syria"[11] governed by a
prefect who was a knight of the Equestrian Order (as
The Roman empire in the time of Hadrian
was that of Roman Egypt), not a former consul or
(ruled 117–138 CE), showing, in western
Asia, the Roman province of Judea. 1
praetor of senatorial rank.[12]
legion deployed in 125.
Still, Jews living in the province maintained some
form of independence and could judge offenders by
their own laws, including capital offenses, until c. 28
CE. [13] The Province during the late Hellenistic period and early Roman period was divided
into five conclaves, or administrative districts: Jerusalem (‫)ירושלים‬, Gadara (‫)גדרה‬, Amathus
(‫)עמתו‬, Jericho (‫)יריחו‬, and Sepphoris (‫)ציפורין‬.[14]

The 'Crisis under Caligula' (37–41) has been proposed as

the first open break between Rome and the Jews.[15]

Autonomy under Herod Agrippa (41-44)

Between 41 and 44 CE, Judea regained its nominal

Old Roman era gate, Bab al-'Amud,
in Jerusalem's Old City
autonomy, when Herod Agrippa was made King of the
Jews by the emperor Claudius, thus in a sense restoring
the Herodian dynasty, although there is no indication
that Judea 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 may have elevated Judea's procurator to
imperial governing status because the imperial legate of
Syria was not sympathetic to the Judeans.[16]

Under a procurator (44-66)

Following Agrippa's death in 44, 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.

Between the years 66-70 follows the Great Revolt.

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Under a legate (70-132)

From 70 until 135 Judea'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 control.

Judaea was the stage of two, possibly three, major Jewish–Roman wars:

66–70 CE– First Jewish–Roman War, resulting in the siege of Jerusalem, the destruction
of Herod's Temple and ending with the siege of Masada in 73–74. (see Josephus).
Before the war Judaea was a Roman province of the third category, that is, under the
administration of a procurator of equestrian rank and under the overall control of the
governor of Syria. After the war it became an independent Roman province with the
official name of Judaea and under the administration of a governor of praetorian rank,
and was therefore moved up into the second category (it was only later, in about 120 ,
that Judaea became a consular province, that is, with a governor of consular rank).[17]
115–117 – the Kitos War; Judea's role in it is disputed though, as it played itself out
mainly in the Jewish diaspora and there are no fully trustworthy sources on Judea's
participation in the rebellion, nor is there any archaeological way of distinguishing
destruction levels of 117 CE from those of the major Bar Kokhba revolt of just a decade
and a half later.
132–135 – Bar Kokhba's revolt; 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.[2] However, this did not prevent the Jewish
people from referring to the country in their writings
as either "Yehudah" (Hebrew: ‫[)יהודה‬18][19] or "The
Land of Israel" (Hebrew: ‫)ארץ ישראל‬.[20]
Old Roman road in Judea (adjacent
Between 132-135 follows the Bar Kokhba revolt. to regional hwy 375 in Israel)

Division into three provinces (135)

Under Diocletian (284–305) the region was divided into three provinces:[21]

Palaestina Prima (Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Peraea and the coastal plain, with Caesarea
Maritima as capital)
Palaestina Secunda (Galilee, Decapolis and Golan, with Beth-Shean as capital)
Palaestina Tertia (the Negev desert, with Petra as capital).

List of governors (CE 6–135)

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Name Reign Length of rule Category

Coponius 6–9 3 Roman Prefect
Marcus Ambivulus 9–12 3 Roman Prefect
Annius Rufus 12–15 3 Roman Prefect
Valerius Gratus 15–26 11 Roman Prefect
Pontius Pilate 26–36 10 Roman Prefect
Marcellus 36–37 1 Roman Prefect

Marullus 37–41 4 Roman Prefect

Agrippa I 41–44 3 King of Judaea
Cuspius Fadus 44–46 2 Roman Procurator
Tiberius Julius Alexander 46–48 2 Roman Procurator
Ventidius Cumanus 48–52 4 Roman Procurator
Marcus Antonius Felix 52–60 8 Roman Procurator
Porcius Festus 60–62 2 Roman Procurator
Lucceius Albinus 62–64 2 Roman Procurator
Gessius Florus 64–66 2 Roman Procurator
Marcus Antonius Julianus 66–70 (dates uncertain) 4 Roman Procurator
Sextus Vettulenus Cerialis 70–71 1 Roman Legate

Lucilius Bassus 71–72 1 Roman Legate

Lucius Flavius Silva
M. Salvidenus
Gnaeus Pompeius Longinus
Sextus Hermentidius Campanus
Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes
Gaius Julius Quadratus Bassus
Quintus Pompeius Falco
Tiberianus
Lusius Quietus
72–81 9 Roman Legate
80–85 5 Roman Legate
c.86 1 Roman Legate
c.93 1 Roman Legate
99–102 3 Roman Legate
102–104 2 Roman Legate
105–107 2 Roman Legate
114–117 3 Roman Legate
117–120 3 Roman Legate

Gargilius Antiquus[22] c. 124–? 1 Roman Prefect

Quintus Tineius Rufus 130–132/3 3 Roman Legate

Sextus Julius Severus c. 133/4–135 1 Roman Legate

References
1. Josephus, De Bello Judaico (Wars of the Jews) 2.8.1 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopp
er/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Awhiston+chapter%3
D8%3Awhiston+section%3D1).

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2. H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976,
ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 334: "In an effort to wipe out all memory of the bond between
the Jews and the land, Hadrian changed the name of the province from Iudaea to Syria-
Palestina, a name that became common in non-Jewish literature."
3. Ariel Lewin. The archaeology of Ancient Judea and Palestine. Getty Publications, 2005
p. 33. "It seems clear that by choosing a seemingly neutral name – one juxtaposing that
of a neighboring province with the revived name of an ancient geographical entity
(Palestine), already known from the writings of Herodotus – Hadrian was intending to
suppress any connection between the Jewish people and that land."
ISBN 0-89236-800-4
4. Jewish War 1 (http://earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/war1.html).14.4: Mark Antony
"... then resolved to get him made king of the Jews ... told them that it was for their
advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king; so they all gave their votes for
it. And when the senate was separated, Antony and Caesar went out, with Herod
between them; while the consul and the rest of the magistrates went before them, to offer
sacrifices [to the Roman gods], and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a
feast for Herod on the first day of his reign."
5. "Founded in the years 22-10 or 9 B.C. by Herod the Great, close to the ruins of a small
Phoenician naval station named Strato's Tower (Stratonos Pyrgos, Turns Stratonis),
which flourished during the 3d to 1st c. B.C. This small harbor was situated on the N part
of the site. Herod dedicated the new town and its port (limen Sebastos) to Caesar
Augustus. During the Early Roman period Caesarea was the seat of the Roman
procurators of the province of Judea. Vespasian, proclaimed emperor at Caesarea,
raised it to the rank of Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta, and later Alexander Severus raised
it to the rank of Metropolis Provinciae Syriae Palestinae." A. Negev, "CAESAREA
MARITIMA Palestine, Israel" in: Richard Stillwell et al. (eds.), The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (1976).
6. Josephus, De Bello Judaico (Wars of the Jews) 2.6.3 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopp
er/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Awhiston+chapter%3
D6%3Awhiston+section%3D3); Antiquities 17.11.4 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/t
ext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D17%3Asection%3D317)
(17.317).
7. Josephus, Antiquities 17.188–189 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=J.+
AJ+17.188), War 1.664 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=J.+BJ+1.664).
8. Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel (1976). A History of the Jewish People (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=2kSovzudhFUC&pg=PA246#v=onepage&q=%22Archelaus+was+deposed%
22&f=false). Harvard University Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-674-39731-6. Retrieved
4 September 2013. "When Archelaus was deposed from the ethnarchy in 6 CE, Judea
proper, Samaria and Idumea were converted into a Roman province under the name
Iudaea."
9. A History of the Jewish People, H. H. Ben-Sasson editor, 1976, page 247: "When Judea
was converted into a Roman province [in 6 CE, page 246], Jerusalem ceased to be the
administrative capital of the country. The Romans moved the governmental residence
and military headquarters to Caesarea. The centre of government was thus removed
from Jerusalem, and the administration became increasingly based on inhabitants of the
Hellenistic cities (Sebaste, Caesarea and others)."
10. Josephus' Antiquities 18 (http://earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/ant18.html)

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11. H. H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish Peoples, page 247–248: "Consequently, the

province of Judea may be regarded as a satellite of Syria, although, in view of the
measure of independence left to its governor in domestic affairs, it would be wrong to say
that in the Julio-Claudian era Judea was legally part of the province of Syria."
12. Josephus, Antiquities 17.355 & 18.1–2;
13. Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 8b; ibid, Sanhedrin 41a; ibid, Shabbat 15a; Jerusalem
Talmud, Sanhedrin 1:1 (1b)
14. Josephus, Antiquities Book 14, chapter 5, verse 4
15. H. H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976,
ISBN 0-674-39731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254–256: "The reign of
Gaius Caligula (37–41) witnessed the first open break between the Jews and the Julio-
Claudian empire. Until then – if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by
the census after Archelaus' banishment – there was usually an atmosphere of
understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations deteriorated
seriously during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was outwardly re-
established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula ordered that a
golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only Caligula's death,
at the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a Jewish–Roman
war that might well have spread to the entire East."
16. Tac. A.12.60
17. Schäfer, Peter (2 September 2003). The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World:
The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=-0aBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131). Routledge. p. 131. ISBN 1-134-40316-
X. "[From 74 to 123 CE] The consequences of the first great war of the Jews against
Rome were extremely far-reaching and their significance for the future history of Judaism
can hardly be overestimated. The immediate political consequences were drastic. As has
already been mentioned, before the war Judaea was a Roman province of the third
category, that is, under the administration of a procurator of equestrian rank and under
the overall control of the governor of Syria. After the war it became an independent
Roman province with the official name of Judaea and under the administration of a
governor of praetorian rank, and was therefore moved up into the second category (it
was only later, in about 120 CE, that Judaea became a consular province, that is, with a
governor of consular rank). This new status of the province also implies that a standing
legion, the legio X Fretensis, was stationed in Judaea. The headquarters of the 10th
legion was the totally destroyed Jerusalem; the governor resided with parts of the 10th
legion in Caesarea (Maritima), which Vespasian had converted into a Roman colony.
(p. 131 (https://books.google.com/books?id=-0aBAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA131&pg=PA131#v=
onepage&q&f=false) at Google Books)"
18. The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1933, s.v. Tractate
Shebiit 9:2 (https://archive.org/stream/DanbyMishnah#page/n77/mode/2up); compiled by
Rabbi Judah the Prince in 189 CE.
19. See p. 1 in: Feldman, Louis (1990). "Some Observations on the Name of Palestine".
Hebrew Union College Annual. 61: 1–23. JSTOR 23508170 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/
23508170).
20. The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1933, s.v. Tractate
Kelim 1:6 (https://archive.org/stream/DanbyMishnah#page/n633/mode/2up)
21. H. H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976,
ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 351
22. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/ancient-inscription-identifies-gargilius-
antiques-as-roman-ruler-on-eve-of-bar-kochva-revolt/2016/12/01/

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External links
Jewish Encyclopedia: Procurators of Iudaea (http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?arti
d=541&letter=P&search=Lucius%20Vitellius)
Procurators (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=541&letter=P), Jewish
Encyclopedia, 1906
The name Rome gave to the land of Israel (http://focusonjerusalem.com/whatromecalledt
hepromisedland.html)

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