WARNING: THIS IS A VERY LONG YEARBOOK!
Herod the Great changes his will & dies. His son, Archelaus, causes a riot at Passover. Joseph, Mary & Jesus move to Galilee to avoid Archelaus. Rebellion lasts all summer in Judea & Galilee. But Governor Varus finally restores the peace. Meanwhile, Caesar settles Herod's will in Rome by dividing Israel into three parts! Now, Archelaus rules Judea, his brother Antipas gets Galilee, and the youngest prince, Philip, gets Trachonitis.
***************
Now, here is the Story of Four BC...
Month-by-Month!
Jan-Feb, 4 BC
March, 4 BC
April, 4 BC
May, 4 BC
June, 4 BC
July, 4 BC
August, 4 BC
September, 4 BC
October, 4 BC
Nov-Dec, 4 BC
***************
And just in case you want it all on one page (on this page)...
Here is the whole text of the 4 BC site:
***************
Jan-Feb, 4 BC
At the end of last year, King Herod the Great locked up his oldest son and changed his will. It took him all year long, but the King finally caught his only heir, Antipater, plotting to kill him and take over the Kingdom!
Now, as the new Roman year begins, Herod is still waiting to hear from Augustus Caesar. (Herod needs Caesar's okay to execute an heir to the throne, and the King wants the Emperor's approval about the new will too, just to be safe.)
So Antipater rots in a cell in Herod's winter palace at Jericho. The younger son, Antipas, is the only legal heir (for now). And Herod's messengers wait in Rome while Caesar is thinking things over.
Before February, Augustus calls Herod's messengers and gives them a letter for Herod. The letter simply says that Herod can do whatever he thinks is right with Antipater, and the new will is fine, too.
Herod's messengers leave Rome, traveling overland, in late winter.
***************
Meanwhile, at his palace in Jericho, Herod himself is deathly ill and getting worse!
For 33 years as King, Herod had enjoyed every pleasure he could afford. He took nine wives, and pretty much anything else he wanted to. But by now he was almost 70 years old, and the lifestyle had caught up with him. So had the final stages of Syphilis.
It's important to know just how sick Herod was. Aside from old age, he had severe, ongoing pain from fever, cramping, hunger and the shakes. There were ulcers in his gut, seeping blisters on his swollen feet and belly, and worms in the rotting flesh of his private area. On top of that, his eyesight was fading, his lungs were weak, and his breathing stank like death.
Clearly, Herod was suffering a lot. Most of the time, he couldn't even sit up. The king even did everything his doctors were telling him to, but nothing was making him better.
Still, at this point, Herod refused to give up hope of finding a cure.
The old king thought he might have one last chance to get well if he visited some warm springs nearby. (People said they had healing powers.) So his servants carried him across the Jordan River about 20 miles down the Dead Sea shoreline, to visit these special baths near a town called Kalliroe.
Herod spent a few days in the warm baths. But he didn’t get any better.
And at that point, Herod truly lost hope. ((See footnote.))
***************
by now, it was the first week of February.
From Kalliroe, Herod's team loaded him into the royal wagon and took him back to Jericho. For the first time, the king truly believed he was going to die.
On the way back, Herod started giving away money! He promised fifty silver coins to each soldier and more for their commanders. The next morning, back in Jericho, he started giving away even more money to his friends.
Herod was trying to buy a little extra good will from his soldiers and friends. (He was hoping they would stay loyal to his son Antipas, after he was gone.)
Happy with his gifts to his friends, Herod began to think about his enemies! (He was worried that powerful men might turn against Antipas when he was gone.)
Herod was now so depressed about his illness that he imagined everyone in Israel hated him and was glad he was almost dead. He got really paranoid about it, and really angry.
And then he came up with a plan! (Herod wasn't the kind of man to mope around when he could just unleash a little blind rage instead!)
A couple of days after his return, Herod sent out messengers with letters to all the chief men of every city in Israel. The letters told the chief men to come to a special meeting in Jericho on a certain time and date.
Now, Herod knew these busy men were scattered all over his kingdom. He knew it would take many days for the messengers to reach everyone, and many more days for chief men from the farthest cities to reach Jericho. (Even though others were only a half day's trip away!)
There was only one way to get them all together at once.
Sick and dying though he was, the king had to schedule the meeting a few weeks ahead of time. (Advance notice has always been the ONLY way to succeed at large event planning!)
Fortunately, the Jewish festival of Purim was about a month away! (It fell a month later than normal, that year, because of the Jewish Leap Year.)
Herod's messengers left in early February for all parts of Israel. Soon after, the chief men of every city received letters telling them to come to Jericho for a meeting on the first day of Purim - March 12th. (The "first day" means the day leading up to the sunset when the feast actually started.)
Since Herod also knew the chief men of Jerusalem could make the trip in one morning, he scheduled the meeting for high noon.
All over Israel, each city's chief men made their plans to arrive in Jericho by noon on March 12th.
Herod was smart to choose Purim for the meeting. It was a two day festival - a day of fasting, followed by a day of feasting. The chief men couldn't forget the date. And they couldn't say they were busy! (No one was allowed to do any work on the day of the fast.)
The king was now sure he would get ALL of them there at ONE time, AND he now had a month to decide what to do with them. (Mainly, he wanted to test their loyalty, but a part of him was just thinking - "kill 'em all!")
First, though, Herod had to find a way to kill a month. While suffering. A lot.
He could hardly do anything at all, but lie on his back.
And wait...
March, 4 BC
As Herod's days of waiting dragged on, something happened in Jerusalem!
The trouble was caused by two teachers (rabbis) named Judas, son of Saripheus, and Matthias, son of Margalothus. These teachers had become very popular in Jerusalem in recent years, because they taught the upper-class youth.
About once every day - in those years - a group of studious young men would come and hear Judas & Matthias lecture to them about Jewish virtue and the law. The young men looked up to their teachers, and the whole city was proud of them all.
Now, these two rabbis were zealous for the law, and very well thought of, in the city. But as God-fearing men, Judas & Matthias were not big fans of Herod. They were certainly not impressed with his virtue, and they were also upset about a lot of things he’d done in his 33 years as their ruler.
Normally, they kept it to themselves, because they wanted to stay alive! But there was something new in Jerusalem that was really hard to deal with.
There was a new decoration near the top of the Temple.
Now, it needs to be said that the Jews were very fond of their Temple. Herod had pledged it to them sixteen years before, and work had been ongoing for at least the past fourteen. (See 27-10 BC.) Anyway, as of February in 4 BC, it so happened that the whole project was just about finished! ((At least, for the moment! See footnote.))
The whole project - the sanctuary, the courts, the chambers, the walls, towers and covered walkways - was very nearly done. Of course, the courts and floors were still dirt, but this was normal. In fact, since the difficult part of the work was all finished, Herod had just recently ordered the workmen to trim the whole thing with expensive decorations.
And that was where it went wrong.
One of the last decorations that got put up was a large golden eagle! Even worse, Herod's workers put it above the Great Gate! The door to the Temple sanctuary itself had a graven image above it!
Oh, some Jews didn't have a problem with it. But Judas & Matthias sure did.
These two Rabbi's felt very strongly that the laws of Moses were against the making of images, even statues of animals. And they were beyond being extremely upset about where it was placed!
Judas & Matthias were burning mad, and they'd been telling their students about it. They were even talking about finding some way to take the eagle down. Purim was less than two weeks away, and they had been talking about this for several days. But - of course - they were afraid of Herod's men.
Then, Herod himself came to town.
By now, it was the first week of March, 4 BC. Herod had gotten tired of waiting in Jericho and decided to make a trip into Jerusalem to check on his things there.
Since he could barely sit up, he had to be carried into the Jerusalem palace on a bed. Someone saw this, and the rumor got around town that the king was about to die any minute!
Of course, the rumor grew (as most do).
After Herod wasn't seen for a couple of days, the story went around that he must've died, and his family was hiding it so they could keep the peace for a few more days. On that day, the whole town began to believe Herod was dead.
Judas & Matthias and their students believed it too.
Suddenly, they found the courage they'd been wanting. The two youth leaders made a stirring speech and talked their young men into pulling down that golden eagle! Feeling new zeal, and extra bravery because of the rumor, the students went wild!
In the middle of that day, Judas & Matthias took their class into the Temple courts. Somehow, a few of them managed to climb up the door posts before the guards could stop them - and the pulled the eagle down!
Many of the boys had hidden axes in their clothes, and they started smashing the big statue into tiny pieces.
Of course, the people in the temple noticed, and a big crowd gathered around. The guards had already called for help, and it wasn't long before the King's Captain came with a large group of Herod's soldiers to stop the celebration.
Some of the students got away, but about 40 of them were proud enough to stand up bravely as the troops came up. (They still thought Herod was dead!)
So the soldiers took Judas & Matthias and more than 40 young men all to prison.
Across town, in his palace, Herod heard about the arrests. He was furious about what happened, but he also knew the young men all had wealthy parents who were well connected in Jerusalem! (Some of those parents were also some of the "chief men" Herod had called together, who were planning to see him at Purim.)
Herod called his men to bring the prisoners to him. And they all came in, surrounded by guards.
Raging, Herod asked them, "Are you the ones who pulled down what I gave to God?"
Judas & Matthias spoke first. The two Rabbis were brave enough to admit what they'd done. They told Herod they cared about the laws God gave Moses so much that they were willing to be punished and killed for their actions. Then all the students agreed.
So Herod had them bound and sent to Jericho. He was ready to have the whole group killed right then, but he couldn't do it in Jerusalem. Besides, there was less than a week left until Purim, and he had to get back to Jericho and prepare for the big meeting with the chief men.
So Herod went back to Jericho, and so did his prisoners. But Herod decided to keep them alive until Purim.
He wanted to make an example out of them, in front of the chief men.
***************
The Fast of Esther began at sunset on March 12. So the chief men were due in Jericho that day at noon. But something very odd happened early that morning in Jerusalem, around dawn.
In fact, it was so odd that the chief men of Jerusalem heard about it in the early morning, as they were getting together to leave for Jericho.
(The sun rose that day between 5:30 and 6:00 am. They had six hours until the meeting, and the road to Jericho was about 16 miles long. On horeseback, they could make it in 4 to 5 hours, without hurrying. But they needed to leave right away, to get there early.)
That morning in Jerusalem, right around dawn, Matthias the high priest woke up with a problem. (Obviously, this was a different man from Matthias the imprisoned Rabbi.)
It seems he'd been having a dream about his wife, and had woken up unclean. This made Matthias unfit to act as high priest on that day... but actually, that wasn't the problem!
The real problem was that Matthias had panicked. In those early hours, he'd already called for his own cousin to take his place - to be high priest for the rest of the day, and for the festival services that evening.
But Matthias the high priest didn't have the power to appoint his own substitute.
Only the king could appoint a high priest.
So this was the big news the chief men of Jerusalem heard just before they left the city, and it was an outrage. But since Herod was expecting them at noon, they didn't have time to do anything about it. And yet, since it was Herod they were going to see, they figured they could tell him what happened, and that would be the next best thing to dealing with it.
The chief men went ahead and left town early in the morning, on schedule. And nobody else in town had the authority to stop the cousin from acting as high priest... so he got away with it!
And that is how a man named Joseph, son of Ellemus, got to act as the high priest for a single day.
***************
By noon that day, on March 12, all the chief men had arrived in (or woken up in) Jericho, and they gathered in the theater to wait for the king.
Walking into the amphitheater, the chief men saw that Judas & Matthias and their students were there too, tied up, surrounded by the king’s guards. (But Jerusalem’s chief men were the only ones that knew who the prisoners were, or why they were there.)
When everybody was there, Herod’s men carried him into the arena on a couch.
Lying there, Herod made a long, angry speech about how much he had done for Israel – but mainly about the Temple. He told them it was a great honor to God, and how the Hasmoneans had never done anything so great in the 125 years before he was king. Herod bragged about the expensive decorations being put on the temple, and how much money he himself had given to put them up. Finally, the king told them all they should be proud of him for doing it all.
(The King was so proud of his finished Temple. He couldn't have guessed that most of it was going to burn down, later this year!)
Suddenly, during this speech, Herod’s anger blew up into a wild rage!
He yelled at them that he couldn’t believe they would abuse him by attacking his temple! (Herod was yelling at all the men who were there, even though it was only the tied-up prisoners who were guilty of the attack.)
Finally, King Herod told them all that the ones who pulled down his dedication had not only insulted their king – they had insulted God by defiling his Temple!
By the end of Herod’s speech, lots of the chief men were still trying to figure out exactly what was going on! But at least they could tell this: Herod was really mad, and they didn’t want to get in trouble for it!
So some of them spoke up and agreed with Herod. They said the prisoners had no reason to do what they did, and should be punished.
Then Herod said the prisoners would be executed. So the guards took the young students away with Judas & Matthias, to be killed.
At this point, the king was already exhausted! He wasn’t sure what else to do with the chief men. So he sat quietly for several minutes, staring into space.
But the men had come together expecting to discuss business.
If Herod had nothing left to say, they figured it was their turn.
One of the men from Jerusalem asked permission to speak, and told Herod all about Matthias the high priest, and what happened the day before.
Herod had just enough anger left to respond. He quickly declared that Matthias the high priest was done! Then he appointed a man named Joazar (who happened to be the guilty high-priest’s brother-in-law) as the new high priest.
With that item of business was done, the men waited. But Herod was too tired to go on. (And he didn't have anything else to say, anyway.)
So the king ordered them to wait there. Then he left.
The chief men just sat there... surrounded by guards, of course!
Quickly, the captain of the guards followed Herod out of the arena. The captain could tell Herod wasn't planning to come back right away, and he guard wanted orders about practical things. (The men had no place to relieve themselves, in the Amphitheater.)
When the captain mentioned this to Herod, the king told him, "Fine. Move them all to the Horse Track and let them use the stables." So they did.
And it was a good thing, too. Because the chief men were going to stay locked in that Hippodrome for another eight days!
***************
As soon as Herod left the arena, he sent for his sister, Salome (and her husband Alexas).
(Note: "Salome" was a family name. The famous one, who dances for Herod Antipas over 30 years from "now", isn't born yet. But that one is going to be the grand-neice of this one!)
Herod told his sister Salome & her husband Alexas that he was going to die very soon, and he was afraid there would not be enough sadness in the country, when he was gone. (Herod knew people were eager to see him die.)
Then the king made Salome & Alexas promise to do something that was truly horrible.
Herod told them to kill every chief man in the hippodrome right after the moment their king died! That way – Herod figured – his death would cause the greatest single day of mourning that Israel would ever see. (Herod thought this would be a great honor!)
In one very strange moment, Salome & Alexas both promised to do it. (It's key to remember that Herod’s disease was extremely painful. He was talking crazy. And they were humoring him.)
The king had only days to live.
***************
The evening of March 12 was the beginning of the Jewish date "the 13th of Adar-Two".
So what does that mean?
The sunset after the big meeting was the official beginning of the first day of Purim, called "the Fast of Esther". (By the way, sunset at that time of year is about 6 pm.)
On that night, in every Jewish city, people gathered at the Synagogue to hear the scripture, to pray, and to mark the beginning of their 24-hours of fasting.
Since the next day was a fast, nobody had to go to work. So it was the regular custom to sit out with family and friends late into the night. (The later you could stay up, the later you might sleep, and the less time you'd have to go until sunset of the next day, when you could eat again!)
So... wait for it... there's a point here.
People all over Israel were up very late, that night.
AND... like all major festival nights, there was a full moon.
AND... a couple of hours past midnight, there was a partial eclipse.
Please take note. This is a very famous eclipse.
Now, not everyone was still awake or outdoors, but plenty of people were. And those who saw the eclipse told everyone else on the following night. (The second night of Purim was the Feast!) So everyone who didn't see the eclipse (which came about 1 or 2 AM on March 13) got to hear about it at the Feast the next evening.
The next day, all the Jews who saw or heard about this eclipse were wondering if it was a sign. And if so, they asked each other, what could it mean?
As it happened, the old king was dying. And a new King was coming.
Herod the Great had a week left to live. And the tiny Lord Jesus would soon return from Egypt.
***************
One more big event happened the night of March 12.
That night in Jericho, Herod's guards took Judas & Matthias the Rabbis and around 40 of their students... and burned them all alive.
The partial eclipse came that same night, after midnight.
And that's why it's a famous eclipse.
***************
The morning after the eclipse was March 13, 4 BC. Passover was 29 days away.
Three days later, on the 16th, Herod’s messengers finally got back from their trip to Rome. (See footnote, on the date.)
(Remember, he sent them late last year to ask Caesar’s will about the traitor, Herod’s son, Antipater. Since it was still winter, they had walked all the way, there & back!)
The messengers had brought back two letters written by Augustus Caesar, for Herod.
One letter was about a traitorous slave named Acme who’d helped Antipater. She was a Jew, but served Caesar’s wife, Julia-Livia, in Rome, where Antipater had recruited her. Caesar wanted Herod to know she had been executed for treason.
The other letter was about Antipater himself. Caesar simply told Herod to kill him or exile him – whichever seemed best.
The second letter also told Herod that his new will was fine. (The one that made Antipas, not Antipater, his only heir.)
So the king was pleased! As he put down the letters, Herod felt hungry. He called for an apple, and a knife to eat it with.
When the knife came, Herod was alone for a moment. He was in so much pain he had a sudden desire to kill himself with the knife!
Herod was about to stab himself when someone walked in and stopped him! (It was the king’s cousin, named Achiabus.)
But at the first moment when Herod's cousin saw him with the knife – and just before stopping him – Achiabus let out a desperate yell that could only mean one thing!
Everyone in the palace heard that yell.
The whole palace was filled with yelling and crying. Almost everyone thought that Herod must have just died.
Way down in the palace dungeon, even Antipater heard the noises, and thought his father was dead. At that very moment, he got excited and tried to bribe the guard. Antipater bragged to the guard that he would soon be set free and become king! (He didn't know the new will had just become official.)
The guard did not accept the bribe, but he did go right away to tell Herod!
Fresh from his failed suicide, Herod heard what Antipater had said. So now the old king started yelling and beating himself in the head.
After a few minutes of this, Herod pulled himself up on one elbow and called for more guards. He told the guards to go kill Antipater right away, and to bury him some place without any honor.
And they did.
Herod himself was four days from death.
***************
All week long, before Herod died, his soldiers kept guard over several hundred of Israel’s chief men in the Jericho Hippodrome.
There was no other place to keep so many temporary prisoners. They used the stables for a bathroom, the stands for sleeping, and the horse track itself for daily exercise. Every day for eight days, the guards moved their prisoners through this simple routine. But there was no way to keep them all separated, and no way to keep them all silent.
The guards kept them from organizing anything, but they let them talk in little groups. Then some of the chief men figured out how to move around from group to group without looking suspicious.
Herod had given his enemies a chance to plot against him!
Now, a few dozen of the chief men there were from Jerusalem. Actually, there were about fifty of them, all very old.
Anyway, some of these Fifty Elders came up with a plan, and talked it up with the others. The plan was very simple, and this week, everyone who heard it was in a mood to agree.
Of course, this plan was based on the hope that they wouldn’t be killed. But the plan was this:
Israel should ask Caesar to get rid of Herod.
The chief men agreed to this part very quickly. But the real question was, “what next?” So Jerusalem’s Jews then suggested the only plan they thought Caesar would go along with. They would ask Augustus to make Israel part of the Province of Syria.
These Jews actually wanted to become part of Syria!
Now this was an amazing development. Here was the entire nation of Jewish leaders. These were old men! For centuries, their fathers’ fathers’ fathers’ had all taught their children to hate the Syrians (and the Assyrians, before them!).
But now – trapped like animals, waiting to die, knowing their death would cripple Israel, and all for the vanity of an evil king – being added to Syria didn’t seem like the worst thing that could happen.
Day after day, the Fifty Elders from Jerusalem worked their way around the Hippodrome. Slowly, as the week went on, they were able to talk everyone else into agreement with them.
Now, these were the leaders of every Jewish city in Israel. So the entire Jewish Nation now had one opinion, to ask for this, from Caesar.
Even Syria would have to be better than Herod.
And better than whichever teenage son he picked to rule them next!
***************
Now, back to the middle of that week.
At the point when Herod still had four days left to live, his official will said he wanted his young son, Antipas to become king next.
But Herod kept thinking about Antipater, the son he'd just executed.
He thought about Livia’s slave, Acme, and how Antipater had so many friends in Rome. Herod knew Acme had written fake letters for his son, and he figured she wasn’t the only one.
Then Herod remembered the letters from a year before (5 BC); the ones that made him distrust his sons Archelaus and Philip.
Those letters were written by people in Rome, who happened to be friends of Antipater’s, but Herod had never guessed it was a setup until now.
Finally, Herod remembered how his other sons, Alexander & Aristobulus were executed (in 7 BC) because of evidence found in letters. And he believed more strongly than ever that Antipater had framed them with fake letters. (Which, remember, was true.)
So, with all these memories of letters on his mind, Herod made a decision.
He decided to trust his sons, Archelaus & Philip.
And he changed his will… again!
Herod simply wrote notes, altering his old will. And he didn’t have time to get Caesar’s approval. But here’s what he wrote:
Herod now willed that Archelaus (the oldest) should be “King of the Jews”, ruling Judea, Samaria & Idumea.
He demoted Antipas (the 2nd oldest) to be “Tetrarch” over Galilee and Peraea.
Finally, he willed his youngest son, Philip, to be “Tetrarch” over the old kingdom of Zenodorus (see 27-10 BC) which was mainly Trachonitis, Gaulonitis & Ituraea.
He also willed money and ongoing-income to his sister Salome. And Herod even willed millions of silver coins to Augustus Caesar and his wife Livia.
The king began working on these notes to his will the same day he executed Antipater.
He worked on the notes for four days. And on the fifth day, he died.
The date was March 20, 4 BC. (See footnote.)
Passover was twenty-two days away.
***************
The first ones to know Herod died were his sister, Salome & her husband Alexas.
The first thing they did was to keep it a secret!
By now, the chief men of Israel had been locked up and living in the hippodrome for a whole week! Lucky for them, Salome & Alexas had no plans to kill them all, like they'd promised to do.
So Salome & Alexs unlocked the arena gates, went in, and told the chief men they were all free to go.
They lied to the men and told them Herod was alive! They said Herod knew that Israel needed them to go take care of business in their own cities. They said Herod thanked them for waiting, but now they could go.
So the chief men all left, very put out, but still believing that Herod was alive. And as soon as all the chief men were away from Jericho, Salome & Alexas made their next move.
A large part of Herod's army was at Jericho in those days, and the royal couple called all few hundred of those soldiers into the Amphitheater.
Salome & Alexas read a letter to the soldiers, that Herod had written to them. It thanked them for their loyalty and asked them to stay loyal to his son Archelaus.
Then the king’s advisor, Ptolemy (who had the use of Herod’s seal) read the will. Ptolemy said it was valid even though Caesar hadn’t yet seen the changes. He instructed the soldiers and their commanders to obey it.
Soon, Archelaus came into the arena.
The army swore an oath to serve Archelaus. Then they all marched past him, as each unit and commander stopped to promise their loyalty.
Of course, Salome & Alexas put this whole event together to keep the country under control, and to win positions as Archelaus' advisers.
And that was how they put out the word that Herod was dead.
***************
Now, at long last, we get to hear about Jesus again!
The little Lord Jesus (now almost 3 years old) has been in Alexandria, Egypt for over two years, with Joseph & Mary.
In the evening of the day Herod died (March 20th - see footnote), Joseph had a dream. In it, he saw an angel telling him to get up and go back to Israel, because those who were wanting to hurt the baby were dead.
So right then, in the middle of the night, Joseph took Jesus & Mary and left town. They told no one that Herod was dead. Alexandria was going to have to wait for that news to travel 370 miles south, from Jericho.
But little Jesus, Joseph & Mary only had to travel about 314 miles north, to reach the city of Gaza, at the limits of Judea.
A day or two into their journey, Joseph finds a town and trades the last of the magi's gold to buy a donkey for Mary & Jesus to ride on.
They make between 15 and 20 miles a day, depending where they stopped along the way, and resting on every Sabbath.
It's going to take them just about three weeks to get to Israel.
By the way, they leave Alexandria, Egypt in March. Now, Alexandria sits on the west side of the Nile River Delta, on the coast. They had to hire ferry-men to get them across the river's forks, but it was easier because the river was low - Egypt was still three months away from the start of it's annual flood season.
Anyway, Joseph, Mary & Jesus are going to reach southern Judea right around the start of Passover... which is when the next batch of trouble starts.
But before we get to that...
Let’s see what Archelaus did in those three weeks, during the time Joseph was bringing Mary & Jesus home to Israel.
***************
Let's go back to the day Herod died.
Archelaus’ first duty, after the troops swore to be loyal, was to send his advisor, Ptolemy, up to Antioch, Syria. (The same Ptolemy who read the will to the soldiers.) There was no question about it. Caesar’s Governor – Publius Quinctillus Varus – would have to be notified right away.
(We'll cover Ptolemy's trip after he gets back.)
As Ptolemy left, Archelaus’ second task was to put together his father’s funeral. It didn’t take long. (Salome & Alexas had servants working on the body from the moment of death.)
Early on the 21st, everything was ready for transport. So were all the soldiers and family members who were going to the funeral. Then they marched 24 miles south of Jericho, until they were a mile outside a place called Herodium.
(Years before, king Herod had built himself a tomb, surrounded it with a small city, and named it after himself!)
Herodium was 25 miles away from Jericho, and the military had marched a long day to pitch camp outside the town. The plan was to break camp the next day, prepare for the funeral, have the funeral, and make camp again at the end of the day.
So on the morning of the 22nd, the soldiers broke camp as planned, and after much preparation, the grand procession was ready.
Everything around the king’s body was gold and jewels, including the scepter, the crown, and even the stand his coffin rode on!
Herod’s troops marched slowly behind the coffin in full armor. His personal guard went first; then came Herod’s foreign troops – Thracians, Germans and Galatians. Behind these special teams followed the whole army (a few thousand) and five hundred servants, carrying spices to lay with the body.
The whole train marched slowly for one mile – starting from a mile outside Herodium. And there, Archelaus buried his father.
The new ruler of Israel stayed in mourning for four more days (seven total), to honor his father and for show, since the Jewish law required it.
On the eighth day, March 27th, Archelaus thought he was ready to begin running the kingdom.
***************
Archelaus came to Jerusalem just two weeks before Passover.
He went straight to the Temple’s outer courts and set up a high throne (made of gold) so he could talk to the people.
As the crowds gathered, the eighteen year old Archelaus started making promises! He told them he’d treat them better than his dad, and he wouldn’t even call himself their “King” until Caesar confirmed the will. But he made it clear that he was still the “ruler”. And he won them over by promising to reward their loyalty. Everyone in the crowds spoke well of Archelaus.
Then they started asking for stuff!
Some asked for lower yearly taxes. (The Jews still paid taxes to Herod – the census of 7 BC was just for accounting purposes!) And some wanted lower trading (marketplace) taxes. Archelaus listened to them all, and he promised to meet these requests.
Then others started asking Archelaus to release people that Herod had put into prison.
The new “ruler” agreed to everything. At least, he pretended to agree. Really, he was just promising things to earn their good will in the beginning. But the crowd of people in Jerusalem believed him.
Archelaus excused himself to offer a sacrifice in the Temple. Then he went away and had a party with his friends!
But the people went home, expecting to get what they’d asked for.
Which, of course, is going to cause a problem... because they didn't!
April, 4 BC
In the early days of April, crowds of people started meeting outside Herod’s Jerusalem Palace. Every day, they tried to call Archelaus out, to ask him about keeping his promises. The crowds kept shouting, but Archelaus never came out to see them.
One day, the crowd started complaining about the rabbis Judas & Matthias and their young students, who had all been burnt to death. Then they started insulting Herod. And these shouts became a regular part of the daily protest.
Finally after a long time, Archelaus actually came out on his balcony and spoke to the crowd. He ignored the dead rabbis, but agreed to another request – the people wanted him to get rid of the High Priest, Joazar, son of Boethus (the one Herod had just appointed during Purim).
The people were glad when Archelaus promised to depose Joazar. (Though he isn't going to actually do it until next year!)
But this was the first thing Archelaus promised that he honestly knew he was really GOING to actually DO, for the people. The young king could see that it wasn’t enough to shut them up... and somehow, that made him get really upset!
Standing on his balcony, he shouted angrily that the people should go away because he needed to prepare for his trip to go visit Caesar in Rome. (He thought this would convince them he was important, and shut them up.)
But the next day, the crowds were still down there yelling! So Archelaus sent a top army general to deal with them. The general was supposed to talk the people into calming down, defend the executions of the rabbis, and remind the crowd about Archelaus' trip. He was also supposed to threaten them with treason, if they didn't shut up!
The general went down into the crowd to speak, but couldn't! The crowds just got louder and more active, until the general’s own life was in danger! The general had to leave, and the crowd got even louder, for the rest of that day.
On the morning after that, Archelaus put armed soldiers in front of the palace. So the crowds moved their demonstrations to the Temple grounds. And they kept shouting their protests, day after day.
By now, it was the final few days before Passover, when people were coming into the city early, to find a place to eat the feast.
As the Passover crowds filled up the city, the yelling in the temple got larger, too. (Many visitors were joining in.)
Day after day, Archelaus sent important men to try to speak to them. But the crowd refused to treat them well at all. Each messenger who tried to speak got shouted down, until they ran him off.
The crowd kept crying out about prisoners, and taxes, and the executed rabbis. And Archelaus kept ignoring them and doing nothing about his promises. The whole situation was getting worse by the day.
And it was almost the day before Passover.
***************
On April 10th, the day before Passover, the king’s advisor Ptolemy got back from Antioch!
Remember, Ptolemy had left Jericho on March 21st, the morning after Herod died – because the Governor simply had to be told. Ptolemy went 363 miles in 12 days on horseback. That’s about 30 miles/day, which was average, but not super – after all, there was no reason to hurry to tell the Governor!
Anyway, Ptolemy got to Antioch late in the evening on April 1st.
The next morning, on April 2nd, Ptolemy had gotten right in to see the Roman Governor Varus. Ptolemy told Varus about the new will and tried to make it sound like a smooth transition was underway.
But Varus didn’t buy it! The Governor knew there was likely to be trouble after the death of a king who’d held his country with an iron fist for 34 years! He was also a little worried that the last minute changes to Herod’s will might cause the young princes to start fighting each other.
So Varus told Ptolemy he was going to come down right away to help keep order during the changeover.
Varus also told Ptolemy he was bringing one of Syria’s three Roman Legions down with him.
Ptolemy asked that he not come to Jerusalem, because of the religious attitude towards Romans, and the holy festival season. And Varus said that was fine, they would go to Caesarea.
Varus thanked Ptolemy for coming and ordered his legion to prepare for marching at dawn.
Ptolemy was a little surprised, and not thrilled about the Governor and his Legion. But the king’s advisor left calmly, saddled his horse, and then rode out of town like a lightning bolt!
Ptolemy knew that Salome, Nicolas and Archelaus needed to know right away, so this time he rode as fast as humanly possible. Since he had the use of Herod’s seal, he could demand a fresh horse at every town south of Berytus. (At least from the synagogues; but those were hard to find in Western Syria.)
With fresh horses, Ptolemy could make 50 miles a day, but with a tired horse, he was doing well to get 40. So Ptolemy made Sidon in 6 days, and then Jerusalem in 3 more.
So Ptolemy got back to Jerusalem on April 10th, as mentioned. Just in time for Passover!
Ptolemy learned about the protests in Jerusalem, and told the Royal Family about Varus.
But Ptolemy did NOT tell them who ELSE was coming down from Syria.
Because Ptolemy himself didn’t know!
***************
Who was this surprise visitor? Caesar’s personal Procurator over Syria, a Roman soldier named Sabinus.
It helps to understand what a “Procurator” is.
First of all, the Governor was a “Proconsul”. And that means… Varus was a Senator and former Co-President of the City of Rome, and Varus was hand-picked by Caesar to manage a Province where Legions were stationed.
(Got all that?)
Now then, Sabinus the “Procurator” was a personal agent of the Emperor himself, a military man who rose through the ranks to command cohorts, at least. And Sabinus was hand-picked by Caesar to supervise his taxes in the Province, and to take charge of any other revenues the Emperor had direct claims to.
That last point is the key point here.
Basically, it was Sabinus’ job to claim money and property that Caesar had a claim to.
Sabinus also commanded a detachment of troops and he could draw on the Governor’s resources for whatever he needed, in service to the Emperor. And finally, Sabinus made it his business to know everything Varus was up to – just in case.
So that’s who Sabinus was.
Now, what happened is this:
When Ptolemy told Varus about Herod’s death and the altered will, Sabinus had a man in the room, taking notes (as he always did). So that evening, Sabinus’ man gave the Procurator the scoop: Varus was leaving at dawn, and Herod’s will might be in dispute.
Sabinus decided he needed to “secure” Herod’s possessions, until Caesar could make a final ruling on the will.
With a few dozen troops, Sabinus slipped out of Antioch before dawn, and ahead of Varus. Since he wanted to beat Varus down there, they hurried.
Sabinus and his troops move at a forced march, about 30 miles a day. Varus and his 5,500 troops moved at a normal military pace of 20 miles a day.
Sabinus is going to beat Varus to Caesarea by almost a week.
At any rate, lots of Romans are heading for Judea!
***************
Now, let’s get back to Jerusalem for the first day of Passover.
On the morning of the feast, April 11th, Archelaus decided he needed to put a stop to the protesters in the Temple grounds and their dangerous ranting.
Meanwhile, in the inner court, the priests were slaughtering hundreds of lambs brought in by families, for the feast later that night. (As they usually did, all day long, on this “Preparation Day”.)
During the preparations, Archelaus sent a regiment of troops to clear the temple of protesters. But when the troops came into the courtyard armed for battle, the crowd of protesters screamed so loud they stirred up the pilgrims, too.
Most of Herod’s army was foreign mercenaries.
But every Jew in that courtyard knew they were desecrating a holy place. On a holy day. Disturbing their special sacrifices.
Instantly the crowds started stoning the soldiers. (The courtyard wouldn’t be paved for another 60 years. See footnote. )
The crowd started throwing stones with so much energy the soldiers actually fell back! Some were wounded. And finally, the whole regiment retreated.
Then the people went right back to their sacrifices. (They’d stoned a regiment one-handed and without losing grip on their live, bound, spotless, unblemished lambs!)
So now Archelaus was in real trouble!
The young king was desperately afraid not to show weakness so soon – and he was afraid that he’d lose the whole country if he just let this go.
So very soon after the stoning – just as long as it took him to gather the whole army from the Fortress Antonia – Archelaus sent his whole army back to the temple!
The foot soldiers marched into the courtyard prepared for anything, and this time, the crowds of pilgrims, priests and protesters all scattered!
The people were trying to get away from the soldiers, but the troops were coming in every exit. So after pushing the people back, the foot soldiers worked around the walls and pushed the people across the middle, back to the exits.
Now everyone in the temple was rushing to get out through a small number of doorways and stairways. People began to get trampled.
When they got outside, the army’s cavalry was waiting to funnel them down hill and out through the southeast gate.
People kept running out, trying to get past the cavalry to the upper city, but the horse soldiers were not giving ground or letting people through. And many people got trampled by the horses.
Then the foot soldiers came down the stairs, still trying to push the crowds out of the city.
Hundreds and hundreds of people in the crowd just panicked. They couldn’t tell which way the soldiers were trying to force them to go. Everyone who tried to go around, past or through the army got killed or beaten and stomped on.
Archelaus had told them to clear the whole area, and to kill anyone who tried to go back to their places. Travelers living in lean-tos and tents by the temple walls were thrown out and watched their dwellings get crushed. If they tried to go back for things, they were cut down.
This horrible scene went on for some time.
When everything finally calmed down, three-thousand people had been murdered or trampled to death, by the army.
Then Archelaus put out the word that everyone not from Jerusalem should go home.
Archelaus’ troops went through the streets making sure everyone in the city was staying in their houses. Arechelaus put out the message that anyone not from Jerusalem should leave the city and go home.
It was still daylight. The festival evening had not even been allowed to begin!
Later, at sunset, the thousands of Jews who had traveled in for the feast were camping out in little groups, as far away from the city as they’d each managed to get, before dark. Many people who’d gotten separated didn’t know if their loved ones were dead or alive.
There were so many bodies at the Temple steps and in the streets of the lower city, the army had to start stacking them in the nearby hippodrome, until they could be claimed or burned. (Most non-local corpses would never be claimed.)
Truly, this was horrible beyond all imagining.
Essentially, Passover had been cancelled.
The date was April 11th, 4 BC – the very first Passover Night after King Herod died. And young Archelaus had just become like his father in at least one new way.
Now, people feared him.
***************
On the day Archelaus became fearsome, Joseph, Mary & Jesus had not quite reached Judea.
Actually, they were in Gaza, on the edges of the kingdom – having just reached the town and rented a room on the 10th – the day before. Joseph & Mary had stopped in Gaza because they needed a place to observe the Passover.
Of course, they had no idea what was going on just 40 miles away, in Jerusalem.
Since most of the Jews in Gaza had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast, Joseph bought supplies in the market and Mary made a small dinner for three in their rented room.
To them, it was a peaceful night. Joseph recited the Passover story to Mary & the toddling Jesus. They ate the flat bread with the bitter herbs, and thought about how the ancient Hebrews had escaped death and finally gotten out of Egypt.
Just. Like. They. Just. Did.
***************
The next day, April 12th, was supposed to be a special Day of Rest (because it was still the Hebrew day of Passover until sunset).
Everyone in Jerusalem was observing the day of rest also – hiding in their homes out of fear, as much as anything. But Archelaus snuck his bad self out of town! (More on that in a little bit.)
The pilgrims who’d been forced to leave Jerusalem didn’t have the option to observe the Sabbath. They woke up early and started walking, hoping to get as far away from yesterday’s danger as possible.
The pilgrims from Gaza woke up that morning for a two-day walk home.
Meanwhile, back in Gaza, Joseph & Mary stayed put to observe the Sabbath. At sundown, they knew it was only 24 hours until Friday night when the regular Sabbath began.
Joseph & Mary had been walking from Egypt for almost four weeks. They already had a decent place to rest there in Gaza, and they didn’t know if they could get such a nice place at the next town up the road AND be settled for the night, in time for the Sabbath. (Remember, Joseph and Mary had become very devout about practicing their faith, in the past three to four years – especially Joseph!)
They knew they were two days from Bethlehem.
(At this point, Joseph's plan was to go back to Bethlehem, where they'd been before they ran away, two and a half years ago! Mary liked the idea because Joseph still had kinfolk in Bethlehem they could turn to for help, and their still-young marriage was about to make it's third brand-new start in four years!)
With Herod dead, Bethlehem seemed like a good idea. So they only had two days of travel left.
But they decided to stay put an extra day, because of the Sabbaths, and just wait to leave on Sunday morning.
It was a good thing they did!
On Friday evening, Joseph and Mary decided to see if there was an evening service at the Synagogue in Gaza. They got there shortly after the Gaza Pilgrims had begun to reach town, fresh from the end of their two-day walks home.
That night, they heard all about what had happened in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling in Judea. he also heard about the 3,000 people who got trampled by Archelaus' order, and how he'd basically shut down the whole festival!
Joseph sat and listened to the men, while Mary tried to help comfort the women who’d been traveling.
On each side of the room, in their own ways, the women and the men kept telling Mary and Joseph one horrible detail after another. (The children were all playing on the floor in an adjoining room.)
It was starting to sound like Archelaus could be worse than his father Herod!
Both Mary and Joseph kept feeling more and more afraid.
They went to bed that night absolutely terrified!
And then, God spoke to Joseph in another dream.
(Joseph never knew for sure, but this would be the last time God ever spoke to him, like that.)
God the Father, in Joseph’s dream, instructed Joseph about the situation. We don’t know exactly what God said to Joseph, but he talked to him about things. And that was enough.
When Joseph woke up on Saturday, he felt better, and he told his wife about the dream.
Then Joseph told Mary that they were going back to live in her family’s town of Nazareth, in Galilee.
They had the whole day to rest.
Then, on Sunday morning, Joseph, Mary & little Jesus – who was now in his 4th year, but a month from his third birthday, so he was really only “two” in the way some people count – started walking again.
They headed straight up the Sea Road towards Caesarea, and to Galilee beyond there.
***************
Let’s get back to that special Sabbath on the 12th, when Archelaus snuck out of Jerusalem.
The king’s entire entourage broke the Passover Sabbath and left town together. All of them – his Aunt Salome (& Alexas), his mother, Malthrace, his father’s chief advisers, Nicolas of Damascus and Ptolemy (just back from Antioch), and of course, a troop of his soldiers for protection – all of them left town on the 12th. Archelaus even brought along all his party-loving friends.
Some of Salome’s cousins (from her side of the family) had been staying with her, and they came along too. These cousins pretended to support Archelaus, but they hated everything about what he’d just done.
The more Salome listened to her cousins, the more trouble she had defending Archelaus. But the country was in a crisis! She had a lot of thinking to do.
So she began to consider Antipas.
Up until now, both Antipas & Philp have been going along with Aunt Salome and supporting their older brother Archelaus.
Now, Philip had a different mother than the other two. And Philip had an easy-going disposition. So when Archelaus decided to leave Jerusalem, he asked Philip to stay behind with the army to keep the city calm. And Philip – never one to cause trouble – easily agreed.
But Antipas concealed his anger and jealousy (at being demoted from king to tetrarch, in the new will). He wisely decided to stay close to his Aunt Salome and his mother Malthrace, and to stay quiet… for now. With that strategy, Antipas also went with his family to Caesarea.
The entire group left together in several chariots, heading to Herod’s palace at Israel’s “second capital”, Caesarea by the Sea. (The city was safe for the Herodians, because it was only half-Jewish, and the other half of the population was Greek-Syrians.
As we said, the Herodian Family left Jerusalem on April 12. To avoid trouble, they took off right around dawn.
The Family didn’t know it, but they were just starting what was going to be a very long trip together.
***************
The Herodians changed horses at Lydda and Joppa, and made it to Caesarea after two long days of chariot-driving. So it was late Friday night on April 13th that Herod’s Family moved into the large palace Herod had built there.
They all went straight to bed, exhausted from travel, and the palace servants (who lived there year round) began taking care of them.
In the morning, on April 14th, the entire Royal Family woke up in Herod’s Caesarea Palace on the Sabbath day. Right away, their servants told them the news that was going around the city that morning.
(There was not going to be any rest for the weary, or the wicked!)
The Romans were in town!
***************
Somehow, Sabinus and Archelaus arrived on the same night, but just missed each other!
Sabinus and his cohort had just marched 304 miles in ten days! They’d also arrived in Caesarea after sunset on Friday the 13th, where they solicited free lodging “at Caesar’s request” and found a local guide to give them a run-down on the city… including all the details about Herod’s extravagant palace!
By the time they woke up to start the day Saturday, Sabinus was heading straight to the Palace.
On the way, he learned the Herodians were there too!
The Palace servants answered the door, and Sabinus’ troops made their way through the entrance. Fortunately for Archelaus, he’d brought just enough troops from Jerusalem to present a show of force himself.
No fighting broke out. Sabinus asked to meet with the new king. And Archelaus refused to come out. (The young king’s advisors told him what the Procurator’s job was, so he knew why Sabinus was there.)
Archelaus kept sending others to deal with the problem for him - just like he did in Jerusalem. And Sabinus was asked to come back the next day.
Ptolemy assured Archelaus that Varus himself was on the way down with over 5,000 soldiers.
All they had to do – Archelaus figured – was stall Sabinus for a few more days.
In the meantime, Nicolas, Ptolemy & Salome all reminded Archelaus that their next move, still, was to sail for Rome as soon as possible.
The problem was that it was only April 14th, when even professional sailors only sailed if they really had to. But the wealthy people – the ones who could afford the time it always takes to be careful about things – wealthy people like the royal family knew it was wise not to sail until May.
Even if May was still two weeks away.
***************
Archelaus only had to stall Sabinus for four days.
Varus arrived in the evening on the 17th.
His Legion (12 Fulminata, the Lightning Carriers) made camp on the north side of Caesarea, near the beach.
That night, Varus found Sabinus and set him straight. (Without any real claims to property for Caesar, Sabinus was below Varus in every area.)
The Governor made Sabinus promise not to take anything until Caesar had ruled on the will, in Rome. Sabinus agreed. But secretly, he was still looking for a chance to go against his promise and seize Herod’s property.
The next morning, Varus went to the palace and met with Archelaus and his advisers. All of them agreed the young king needed to be in Rome as soon as possible, but Varus understood about the weather.
Varus and his staff met with the Herodians all day long, while the palace servants brought food and refreshments. The Governor interviewed them all about recent events, and the state of the kingdom.
At some point during the meetings, Varus announced that he would be taking his Legion to Jerusalem, and keeping it there for a while. Even Archelaus had to agree this was a good idea.
The meetings kept on all day. Since this was the first official meeting between Rome and the new administration of it's "client kingdom" Israel... Varus had a LOT of things to ask and go over!
Even Sabinus was allowed to sit in on these meetings, as Caesar's personal Agent. So the greedy Procurator and his note takers came out of there with a full and detailed accounting of all Herod's properties at the time.
Sabinus seemed especially interested to make a list of all the Palaces and Fortresses, and Varus noticed. Later, when the Governor asked him privately not to seize any of those places, Sabinus lied, and said he would leave them alone.
The Romans and Herodians kept meeting all day and into the night, until the Governor felt his staff had shared enough information from both sides to be prepared for everything that might lie ahead.
Meanwhile, the Lightning Carriers had been given a whole day of rest from marching.
In the evening, as the meetings began to wind down, Varus sent word to the Legion that they should expect to strike camp and march out after dawn.
Varus' order happened to set up an incredible coincidence. An amazing, dramatic event that happened very quietly...
On that next morning.
***************
Remember where we last saw Jesus & his parents?
Joseph, Mary & Jesus left Gaza on Sunday, April 15th, and Caesarea was 83 miles away – a four day walk.
Around mid-day Wednesday, as they were getting closer to Caesarea, they’d seen some travelers on the road who were telling everyone about the Royal Family and the Romans (in case people wanted to avoid the authorities.)
Joseph & Mary weren’t worried, but they both agreed it would feel safer not to sleep in the same city with Archelaus. Just in case.
So they stopped early that day at the last small town outside Caesarea. They spent the night there, just a few miles away from the city, and started walking again in the morning.
That next day was Thursday, April 19th, when the Legion was striking camp. (At that time of year, sunrise was a bit before 6 AM.)
The Romans broke camp in about an hour and started marching down the road into Samaria. On a road like that, the Legion could only march four abreast.
With the baggage train and rear guard, the entire column was almost two miles long. That means it took about 40 minutes for the entire column to cross a given point.
Now, Joseph & Mary woke at sunup, like everyone did in the ancient world every day. Mary fed Jesus while Joseph packed the mule, and they were off.
They were walking 3 to 4 miles an hour, starting from four miles away from Caesarea, they were there a bit after 7 AM.
The timing was remarkable.
As Joseph & Mary circled around the outer wall of Caesarea and came towards the eastern cross-roads junction… they saw the Legion!
Actually - to try and be precise – they saw the Legion crossing their path very near to the beginning of its column. In fact, Varus himself was somewhere near the front of the column.
Joseph, Mary and Jesus literally crossed the path of a Roman Legion on the march!
They were awed, but not afraid, because God had told Joseph that Galilee would be safe. (The road from Caesarea was the beginning of Galilee.)
Somehow, the same crimson and gold colors that ordered them to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth now seemed to be welcoming him to safety in Galilee.
After a few minutes, they heard soldiers barking orders, and horns sounding briefly. Then the column to the left of them halted. (The column to the right of them kept on going.)
An officer shouted, “Pass through now!” (Other travelers had stopped on both sides of the junction.)
Humbled and relieved, Joseph & Mary crossed in front of the soldiers and kept on going.
They spent one more night at another small town on the way, and finally brought Jesus up to their old home, late Friday afternoon.
After everything, they had made it back to Nazareth.
When Joseph & Mary got to Nazareth and showed up at Mary’s father’s home, everyone was shocked and thrilled to see them. It had been over two years since they’d heard about the Bethlehem Massacre, and they never knew what had happened to the young couple, or the baby.
And so it was that on Friday evening, April 20th, 4 BC, Mary introduced Jesus to his maternal grandparents for the very first time.
The infant Messiah had finally found a home to grow up in.
As the sun began to set, they all walked to the Synagogue together, to show all of Nazareth who’d come home.
***************
This will be our last good look at Nazareth, for a while. So let’s take a quick peek forward.
Joseph and Mary got to settle back into their old town’s life again. They lived in her father’s house, until Joseph got his business going enough to support them on his own.
Most importantly, God’s advice to Joseph in his dream was proven to be true. Nazareth was indeed a safe place to raise Jesus – even in this crazy, awful, war torn year!
Safe is good, but it doesn’t make history! So this is the last time Jesus himself will be involved in actual events... for a few more “years”.
At this moment, the Lord's third birthday was a month away.
The next big events in Jesus' life will be just before his thirteenth birthday - which is ten years away!
We’ve got a lot of history to cover, before that happens.
***************
We left Archelaus and the Herodians at Casarea, by the Sea.
Varus had just urged them to get to Rome as quickly as possible.
Now the King’s small navy was always moored in Caesarea. They hired a captain who’d sailed Herod’s flagship before, and began preparing to get underway. And by the last week of April, they were ready to set sail.
They left in the early season, despite the slight risk, because Varus had urged it.
The voyage west to Rome was a long one, always partly against the winds. So, as the Herodian Royals left port, they settled in for at least 6 to 8 weeks at sea together.
They didn’t know they had spies watching them leave!
Caesar’s procurator, Sabinus was still in Caesarea. He’d been laying low since Varus left, just waiting for Archelaus to leave the country.
Sabinus had figured out the largest part of Herod’s treasure was at Jerusalem. So now Sabinus only had to wait until Varus left, too.
***************
Governor Varus and the Lightning Legionnaires made it to Jerusalem on Sunday, April 22nd.
As always, the Legion built their camp outside the city. And, as always, they gave it a wall, with a dry moat.
But Varus himself went into the city.
Right away, the Governor met with their council – the Sanhedrin. (FN: The High Priest Joazar, son of Boethus, whom Herod appointed on March 12th, was their official leader.) Varus promised them he was only there to keep the peace, and he asked if they had any questions.
They had one.
The old men on the Sanhedrin were among the chief men held over at Jericho, after Purim. (See March, 4 BC.) They told Varus about their week in the Hippodrome, and about how they’d talked with the chief men of the entire nation about giving Israel to Syria.
They told all that to Varus. Then their question was, “We can sail to Rome right now, but how do we get into Caesar’s presence, to ask him?”
Now, first of all, Varus liked this idea.
In fact, Varus liked it so much that he offered to write a letter to Caesar, for them. The Governor offered his personal support, for the proposal. (He said they could use his name, to say so.) And he advised them in how to speak and behave, when they met the Emperor.
They asked, “how will the Emperor know for sure that we speak on behalf of the whole nation?” And Varus answered, “You should all go.” He said Caesar would be impressed by so many witnesses.
So that day, the Governor sent a letter, by special dispatch. And the Sanhedrin began planning to take their delegation to Rome.
A week later, they were ready to go. They left Jerusalem near the very end of April, made stops in Joppa and Caesarea, to build up support, and sailed out of Caesarea while it was still the first week of May.
They didn’t know they were leaving their country on the verge of a revolt.
But we’ll get to that soon.
Right “now”, there’s still more left for Varus to do, on the day he arrived.
***************
The Sanhedrin briefed Varus about the city he’d be guarding.
They also introduced him to Herod’s son, Philip. (FN: Remember, Archelaus had asked Philip to stay and be in charge of the Army, the Palace and their other holdings, in Jerusalem.)
Philip invited Varus to dinner that night at the Palace. And the next night. And so on. And the two hit it off.
The young man’s royal staff spared no expense in taking care of Varus’ needs. And the Governor realized he was a father figure to Philip. So Varus and Philip spent hours talking, each night, at the Palace.
That is how the two men became great friends.
Among other things, Philip shared his views on the Jewish leaders, with Varus. The prince told the General all about his father’s dealings with them. Philip tried to explain why Herod was as harsh as he needed to be, when dealing with Israel.
So Varus started second guessing his decision to support the Fifty Elders. But by the time the Governor’s feelings on that became certain, the elders were gone!
But the friendship of Varus and Philip was only beginning.
***************
There is only one other thing to mention, about this last week of April.
Jews all over Judea had heard about, or noticed, the Roman Legion that was camped outside the holy city. They also heard that Archelaus had left the country with most of his family.
The presence of foreign invaders made most common Jews furious. And the absence of their new king made them reckless enough to start trouble over it!
Nobody knew it yet, but Judea was about to erupt.
May, 4 BC
Some time in the very first days of May, a mass revolt broke out in central Judea. (FN: This was just after the Fifty Elders left Judea and went to the Sea.)
So, in various towns all around Jerusalem, Varus and the 12th Legion jumped into action.
Now, this might be called “the first rebellion” of the year. But all the details about what happened are completely unknown!
All we know is that the rebellion was really big, and really bad, and it was over really quickly. Varus and his Legion stopped the uprising without too much fighting. (FN: Josephus says they “suppressed” it.) The Governor punished those who’d stirred it up. And that was that. It seemed the Lightning Legion was as quick as their name.
The Judean rebels settled down, like they were supposed to. But things were still very tense, all over Judea.
The Governor was pretty sure another revolt would erupt, any time.
So he wrote a report about it, to Caesar, and he said so. (More on this later…)
At that point, Varus made three decisions. First, he left Legion XII in its camp outside Jerusalem to keep the peace, as planned. Next, Varus got Philip to hand over control of the Herodian Army. (The Legion’s top General was now in command over the Army’s top general.) And Thirdly, Varus took Philip and a few soldiers, and they rode quickly back to Antioch. (FN: 363 miles, or 7/8 days, switching horses
The Governor didn’t want Philp, or himself for that matter, to be around when the next trouble started. Besides, Varus had some other affairs to check on, up in Syria - like making sure his other two Legions were put on alert!
So – some time into the second week of May – the Governor left Judea.
But mostly, he expected to return.
***************
By the way, about that report Varus just sent to Caesar…
It needs 48 days to get to Rome, by personal carrier.
As it happens, the Herodians needed between 40 and 60 days to sail there. But they had a two or three week head start on Varus’ letter.
Remember this, when we get to June. The Herodians are going to meet with Caesar just before Varus’ report gets there, too. (FN: Lastly, the Fifty Elders get there 2-4 weeks after the report.)
And that is not going to be helpful, to Archelaus.
***************
Back to “now”…
We just saw Varus leave Judea. But more importantly, so did the spies of Sabinus!
The Procurator’s spies rode for two days back to Caesarea, to tell him. And Sabinus hurried to Jerusalem in the two days after that. So by mid-May, on the fourth day after Varus left the Holy City, his rival Sabinus was in town.
And that’s when things began to get crazy again.
Sabinus took Herod’s Palace (“for Caesar”) and stationed his cohort there (because it was built like a fortress). Then he called all Herod’s personal staff (that was in the city) to the Palace, and told them each to write up a list of what Royal property they controlled, and where it was kept.
But when Sabinus started to go clean out the first set of strongholds, the men guarding those citadels refused to let him in. When Sabinus said he was there to protect the treasure for Caesar, the Hebrew Soldiers just said, “By Archelaus’ orders, that’s just what we’re doing.”
Sabinus was stuck. The places he wanted the most were the three strong Towers next to the palace. The Procurator was sure there was treasure hiding in the towers, if he could get into them. (The towers had names – Phasael, Mariame and Hippicus.)
Of course, Herod’s personal officials and property were all over the city, and Sabinus kept trying to find ways to get anything he could.
The Jews in Jerusalem were upset about Sabinus and they complained to Varus’ Generals. But the Generals couldn’t help, because the Procurator only answered directly to Caesar.
It was the middle of May.
One day, a small group of rebels started attacking Sabinus’ men. Little attacks – like throwing things over the palace walls, or hitting the soldiers rocks in the street. These rebels always ran away quickly and they hid well in crowds, because the Romans thought all Jews looked just alike! Also, no one in the crowds would point out the rebels.
Day after day, the rebels kept up these little raids and ambushes. Their small-size tactics were difficult for the Roman Soldiers to fight against. Privately, these secret rebels were gaining sympathy and support from more and more of the common folks in Jerusalem.
But then, after several of these small attacks, Sabinus decided to fight fire with fire!
The Procurator sent out a group of his personal slaves, dressed like the Jews, to find the trouble makers. It didn’t work very well, but these ‘bodyguards’ bothered so many innocent people, that the whole city was starting to sympathize with the rebels.
Sabinus didn’t really care. He was still trying to figure out a way into the towers.
Meanwhile, the big Festival, Pentecost was about a week away.
Thousands of Jews from all over Israel were coming into the city, ahead of the Feast.
***************
Thousands and thousands of Jews were heading to Jerusalem.
…which means thousands of new problems were heading Sabinus’ way!
As it turned out, many other rebellions had been popping up all over Israel, ever since Varus left. There was major chaos affecting several cities, and some rebels were organizing into larger, armed groups.
Rebels from Jerusalem had gone out looking for more troublemakers, hoping to spread the news and fan the fires of revolt even higher. The best story these Jerusalem rebels had to share with their kinsmen was Sabinus – about his attempted thefts and his harassment of the people.
So the rebellious Jews in Galilee, Idumea, Transjordan, and Judea heard about what Sabinus was doing. And all of them – especially those from Judea – were hoping to take their rage out on Sabinus during the Festival.
Tens of thousands of Jews were heading to Jerusalem – and thousands of them were itching for a fight!
***************
Here’s a quick listing of the four biggest rebellions that began this month:
One: In Jericho, a strong, handsome Jew named Simon – a leading slave at the Jericho Palace – put on one of Herod’s crowns and got together a group of men who declared him the new King of Israel! Right then and there, the group burned down the Palace. After the fire, they looted the treasures that were left and moved around Transjordan, recruiting and growing larger.
The entire company of Simon the Slave is now heading to Pentecost.
Two: In Galilee, at a town named Sepphoris, a man named Theudas (often called “Judas”) raised another small army. Years before, Theudas’ father, Ezekias, had been the powerful chief of some Jewish Raiders. Back in those years, Herod captured and killed Ezekias. And now, the men who’d been waiting for Ezekias’ son to fill his father’s sandals were eager for a fight.
So this Theudas led some Galilean tough guys in a surprise attack on the Royal Palace at Sepphoris. Quickly, they looted the palace and seized all the weapons from it’s armory. Then, Theudas and his men rode around Sepphoris and other nearby towns, stealing and threatening anyone they came across. Theudas began acting like the new King of Galilee.
Theudas also sent a group of his men down to the Festival in Galilee, to see what they could steal, in case there was another riot.
By the way, in Samaria, there were no rebellions. And of course, the Samaritans did not attend the Jerusalem Festivals. As they watched hundreds of Galileans move thru Samaria on their way down, the Samaritans made it clear they were not interested in joining. (Not that the Galileans would have had them!)
Three:In the Judean countryside, a group of 2,000 Veterans (retired Herodian soldiers) got together somewhere in the flats to form an army. These Veterans wanted to make a show of force, but didn’t seem to have much of a plan!
Actually, they just wanted money! They were already discharged when Herod started giving away money to soldiers, after his hot-baths trip. But they were so recently discharged, that these Veterans figured they deserved the same reward! So their only plan was they hoped to somehow seize or demand some part of Herod’s vast wealth.
Anyway, these 2,000 Veterans were just assembled in the countryside, doing nothing. But the Army heard about their getting together.
So, just before Pentecost, Herod’s cousin Achiabus (the one who saved him from suicide this year) took a couple of thousand active Herodian Soldiers into the plains. Once there, Achiabus ordered the Veteran army to disband (he figured they had to be old & soft, and easy to disperse.)
But the old Veterans proved how valuable their experience was against the younger troops. The Veterans attacked and forced Achiabus’ units to retreat until he found higher ground. Actually, the 2,000 Veterans kept chasing the others until Achiabus’ soldiers reached a high enough position that the old guys couldn’t climb up to.
After that, the Veteran army moved closer to Jerusalem, to see what they might be able to accomplish, or ask for. And of course – like all Jews – they felt a natural burden to observe the festival, like they were supposed to!
Fourth:Somewhere in southern Judea or Idumea, there was a simple Sheep Herder named Athronges, who was known in his parts only because of his amazing size and the ways he sometimes showed off his great strength. This man, Athronges, figured he was strong enough to make himself King of Israel, and he figured he’d enjoy being King more than being a shepherd. (He also figured he didn’t have much to lose, if he died!)
Athronges had four brothers, who were also very tall and strong, like Athronges, and his brothers all joined together to help him become king. So these Five Strong Men started flexing and boasti