Patriarch of the Herodian
dynasty. He was the grandson of Antipater I, who had
served Alexander
Jannai & Salome
Alexandra as chief of Idumea.
While Jewish sources [Josephus
& the Talmud]
regularly characterized Antipater's family as wealthy Edomites,
Herod's gentile biographer [Nicholas of Damascus] portrayed them as
Babylonian Jews & they were accepted as Jews by all
contemporaries. Antipater II rose to prominence in Jewish politics
as champion of Hyrcanus
II & leader of Jews
opposed to Aristobulus
II. His marriage to a Nabataean [Jordanian] aristocrat gave him Arab allies whom he called
on to force Aristobulus into exile. During & after the ensuing
Hasmonean civil war, the Roman general Pompey
treated Antipater as leader of the Jews. After Pompey was murdered
(48 BCE), Antipater sent substantial support
to Julius
Caesar's Egyptian campaign
against Cleopatra VII. Caesar rewarded Antipater by making him &
his family full citizens of Rome. This gave Antipater's family an
important role in Roman politics & diplomacy for the next 140
years. His appointment as Roman procurator [epitropos] of Judea
gave him authority to appoint his sons,
Phasael & Herod,
as governors of Jerusalem
& Galilee.
After Julius Caesar's assassination (44 BCE),
Caesar's nemesis Cassius
occupied Syria & ordered Antipater to collect tribute from the
Jews. He was poisoned by a rival tax collector. Even the Hasmonean
historian Josephus later eulogized him as "distinguished for
piety, justice & devotion to his country" [Antiquities
14.283].
References:
Josephus,
Antiquities
14.8-19,
37,
99-103,
120-143,
156-167,
269-293.
______, War
1.123-124,
130-131,
175-283.
Other online
resources:
Perspective on the
World of Jesus 