The father of Antipater the Idumaean and governor of Idumaea (a Jewish territory) had long been absolutely loyal to Judea. Antipater assumed his father’s office upon his death. In 63 B.C., when the great Roman general Pompey overran Jerusalem, Antipater immediately changed with the wind and subjected himself to Rome. Because he served the Romans unequivocally under all circumstances, he was highly regarded by the Roman government. When Pompey and Julius Caesar were engaged in a civil war in 48 B.C., Antipater, realizing the certain victory of Caesar, fought for him in Egypt. At the end of the war, Caesar, having obtained power, first made him governor of the provinces of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and later appointed his son Herod as the tetrarch of Galilee.
Antipater died in 43 B.C., and his territories were partitioned by his first and second sons, Phasael and Herod. The time coincided with the establishment of the Second Triumvirate, according to which the eastern countries were under the domination of Antony. When Antony came to Antioch of Syria in 41 B.C., he appointed the two brothers governors, Phasael and Herod ruling the south and the north, respectively. In 40 B.C., when the Parthians invaded, Herod escaped to Rome and was welcomed by Octavius Caesar and Antony. With the Senate’s approval, Caesar promoted him to be king of Judea. He officially ascended to the throne in 37 B.C., and died in 4 A.D. This was the same Herod who wanted to kill the baby Jesus (Matt. 2:16).
When Julius Caesar was murdered in 44 B.C., Octavius Caesar, who was first his grand nephew and then his adopted son, succeeded him. This Octavius Caesar was later called Augustus (Luke 2:1). At the age of eighteen, when he was studying in Greece, Octavian was advised by friends and relatives to flee eastward for his life. Instead, he hurried back to Rome to work with Antony and Lepidus, Caesar’s generals, who wielded the real power. In the next year (43 B.C.), at nineteen, he was chosen as one of two chief rulers, whereupon he gave immediate orders to exile the assassins of his adoptive father. Simultaneously the Second Triumvirate was formed between him and Antony and Lepidus.
In the winter of 34 B.C., Antony married Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, in Antioch of Syria. He further distributed the eastern provinces to her sons as rulers. When the Triumvirate ended in 32 B.C., Octavian declared war against Antony in the name of quelling rebellion and prevailed. He returned to Rome in 29 B.C. for a triumphal procession. Octavian thus became the owner of the Roman Empire. The Senate designated him the imperator (or the supreme commander) and conferred upon him the title of “princeps” (or “first citizen”). In January of 27 B.C. he was named “Augustus,” which means supreme and divine. Later he was named “Caesar” and officially became Caesar Augustus. It was during his reign that the Lord Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-7).
When the Israelites returned to their own country to rebuild the temple and the holy city, they were still under the rule of the Persian Empire for another two centuries. They were occupied by the Grecian Empire after Alexander the Great overthrew Persia. After Alexander died, they fell under the rule of the kingdom (including Syria) established by one of his generals, Seleucus. Judea, being situated between Syria to the north and Egypt to the south, was often caught in the wars between the two powers. When Antiochus Epiphanes became king of Syria, he occupied the holy land, slaughtered the Israelites, and defiled the temple. The Maccabees, led by Judas Maccabaeus, later rose up to defeat and expel the Syrians, and the temple was cleansed as a result. Following the Roman conquest of Syria and Egypt, the Israelites came under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was in the reign of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus that John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were born, thus concluding the Old Testament era and bringing in the New Testament age.