Antipater the Idumaean

Common card · No. 277645

Antipater I the Idumaean (114 or 113 BCE – 43 BCE) was the founder of the Herodian dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas and had formerly held that name. A native of Idumaea (a region southeast of Judah in which the Edomites settled during the classical period) Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of Roman General Pompey when Pompey conquered Judah in the name of the Roman Republic. After Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus, Antipater sided with Caesar during the Roman Civil War. During Caesar's Egyptian campaign, Antipater joined Mithridates of Pergamon's army marching to rescue Caesar in Alexandria. Caesar made him chief minister of Judea, as Judah became known to the Romans, with the right to collect taxes. Eventually Caesar made Antipater's sons Phasaelus and Herod the governors of Jerusalem and Galilee, respectively. After the assassination of Caesar...

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