1 BC

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Bill Heroman said...

Major Sources for this year include Suetonius 3.11-12 and Cassius Dio 55.10.17-20.

The Revolt of Armenia (from 1 BC to 3 AD) runs through several sources, including: Suetonius 3.12-13,16; Dio 55.10.18 thru 55.10a.8; Tacitus' Annals 1.3 & 2.1-4; and Josephus' Antiquities' 18.39-54.

By the way, the Armenia story has nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible. I'm just including it to be thorough.

Josephus included it because he was trying to get future Emperors to give Israel a Jewish King again. And Josephus runs his story until Parthia gives Armenia a Persian (native) King, because Josephus' readers knew this was when the region gained stability. (See 11 AD.)

Details about Archelaus, Aretas, Antipas & Philip are scattered thru other parts of Josephus, mainly.

Dating the deal between Aretas and Antipas is partly based on the work of G.W. Bowersock in his book, Roman Arabia.

Archelaus’ 2nd thru 9th years of rule are barely mentioned in Josephus’ Antiquities (17:340-1).

Finally, the story of Jesus staying in Nazareth for Passover is based on Luke 2:41 and Matthew 3:22. The timing works perfectly, since Jesus turned 12 in the year that Archelaus was deposed. (See the Year Books for 6 & 7 AD.)

6/03/2007 12:25 AM
Bill Heroman said...

Remember, y'all...

The printed version of this (I hope) is going to be (I hope, I hope)...

Condensed!

But the long, draft version is going to stay online. At least, that's the plan.

I'm so glad it's finally summer! :)

6/03/2007 12:28 AM
Bill Heroman said...

Okay, the revised, manuscript version is now posted. (And it's been condensed!)

Also, here are the footnotes to that version. Sorry, the reference numbers aren't in the online text... yet.
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1 No, Jesus wasn’t born in 1 BC, but people used to think he was. The man who created our BC/AD system was a few years off. He thought the Lord was born on December 25 of a certain year, so he called it 1 BC and made the next month 1 AD. (There’s no “Year Zero”.) For the record, the man’s name was Dionysius Exiguus and he did his work in the year we now call “525 AD”.

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2 The year 1 BC is considered as Archelaus’ 4th year.

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3 We count the last two months of 4 BC as Antipas’ 1st year, even though he spent both months in Rome.

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4 Aretas must have been close to 20 when he became king in 9/8 BC, and nearly 70 at his death in 39/40 AD.

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5 The wedding, of course, would be 4-5 years away… which gave Antipas a few years to have his cake and eat it too. Actually, Antipas had several reasons to desire a union with Nabatea. Like his full-brother Archelaus, Antipas himself was one-quarter Nabatean (thru Herod’s mother). Also, his lands in Peraea, east of the Jordan from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea, all bordered Nabatean territory. Beyond this, Antipas knew a Royal Union of any kind would put him one-up on his brother, Archelaus. (Antipas still resented Archelaus, and hoped to rule Judea someday, even though it isn’t going to happen.) Finally, Antipas knew a Union with Aretas would please Augustus. And no respectable client-ruler in the Empire ever turned down a chance to increase their favor with the Emperor!

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6 Apparently, Caesar arranged (or encouraged) many more marriages than we know. (See Suetonius 2:48.)

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7 It was a betrothal, actually, which may have lasted for several years, before she came of age. We don’t know what year they actually wed, but Antipas was done with her by 27 AD, and if he was anything like his father, it’s unlikely he was faithful for 27 years! So the wedding may have been delayed as much as a decade or so. Still, the important thing for both rulers was the benefits of the agreement. For Aretas’ sake, if the promise was enough to get back in Caesar’s graces, then what did he care what year the wedding took place? Besides, there was no need to rush the girl down the isle, and Antipas could enjoy being single. Again, the contract would have as much benefit for both men, even if the girl was still very small.

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8 “Greater Armenia” sits below the far end of the Black Sea, south of Colchis. Their eastern limit is the Caspian Sea and their western limit is the extreme upper Euphrates. Basically, Armenia was the far Eastern limit of Roman power and influence. In the first century of the Empire, it was sometimes an enemy, but Augustus had been trying to turn it into a Client Kingdom for some time.

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9 Here’s what happened. In 6 BC, Rome’s ally Tigranes II died and his son Tigranes III took Armenia’s throne. Augustus tried to send Tiberius to oversee the transition, but Tiberius refused to go and moved to Rhoads. So Armenia switched their Loyalty to the Kingdom of Parthia! At some point, Augustus sent Tigranes’ Romanized uncle to stage a coup. (The uncle was an Armenian named Artavasdes, also called Artabazus – not to be confused with the Mede of the same name who shows up in a couple of years.) Now then, Artavasdes forced out his nephew Tigranes, who went to Parthia. But after the Parthian Queen & Prince (Musa & Phrataces) murdered their King, Phraates IV, the new King Phrataces helped Tigranes chase his uncle out of Armenia. (Wphew!) Now, that might sound complex, but to Augustus, it was just a revolt!!!

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10 All of this, naturally, made Augustus even more furious with Tiberius than he’d been for the last five years!

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11 Last year, the Emperor sent young Gaius to command Legions on the Danube River, in Eastern Europe. But the Danube was peaceful, at that time, and Gaius was only just learning about Army life. There were more experienced commanders, but aapparently Augustus had to grant special powers to anyone leading Legions that far into the East, and he didn’t want to give such power to anyone he couldn’t trust completely.

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12 By the time Gaius got ready to leave Rome, the Emperor had finally decided what to do about Nabatea.

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13 The order of Gaius’ missions is going to change by the time he gets there. But at this time, Augustus’ main focus was on Armenia. Since he wanted Arabia restored by Gaius in person (not by a messenger’s announcement), and since he didn’t know how long it would take Gaius to get down there, Augustus sent no other messengers. So Aretas is going to keep waiting, all year long, to see if he’s getting his crown back!

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14 At this time, Lollius had over 25 years experience as a Senator and military Proconsul.

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15 Gaius even toured Old Troy, briefly. Since Alexander the Great started his War in the East (at age 22) by paying homage at Troy. Maybe Gaius (age 18) figured this was symbolic!

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16 When Augustus heard about Lollius’ rumors, he sent letters to Rhoads about it. Tiberius sent back, repeatedly, swearing it wasn’t true and begging the Emperor to let guards watch him all the time, if it would help.

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17 Governor L.C. Piso (whose term in Syria was over July 1st) waited a few extra months while Gaius toured the East. The official turn-over of power to Gaius ended two completely uneventful years for Piso in Syria.

6/09/2007 4:32 AM

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