TETRARCH (Terpcipvis; letrarcha). This word, as its etymolog,y indicates, originally signi fied the ruler of the fourth part of a country ere Tpapxla or rerpaSapxfa). Such were the four an cient divisions of Thessaly (Eurip. Alcest. 1154; Pliot. in voc. ; Strabo, ix. 5), revived by Philip (Dem. Phil. iii. p. 117 ; Thirwall, Hist. Gr. vi. 13, 14, ed. 1), each of which had its own governor subordinate to the Tagus. The same division existed in Galatia, where there were as many as twelve tetrarchies, each of the three tribes being divided into four, each with its OIVII tetrarch (Strab. 566 ; Plut. De V. M. vol. Wytt), ultimately fused into one brapxfa under Deiotarus, c. 54 B.C.
In the later days of the Roman republic, and during the empire, the etymological meaning was almost entirely lost sight of, and it was applied, like "ethnarch ' and phylarch,' to the petty tribu taries, the creatures of a proconsuPs breath, and the puppets of his caprice ' (Merivale, Hist. of Rom. iv. 167), whose importance did not warrant their receiving the title of king.' It is in this secondary sense that, in all probability, the word is used in the N. T. of the tetrarchs of Syria, the heirs and successors of Herod the Great. Niebuhr (Hist. of Rom. ii. 135) compares them to the zemindars of Bengal, after their recognition by Lord Cornwallis, 1791-93, as proprietors of the soil, and enjoying some amount of sovereign rights within the limit.
of their zemindary. The title of tetrarch was cer tainly given by Antony to Herod the Great in the early part of his career, B.c. 41, and his brother Phasael (Joseph..4neig. xiv. 13. 1), without reference to territorial divisions ; and though it appears that the tetrardis Antipas and Philip did actually receive a fourth part of their father's dominions, while Archelaus as ethnarch ' inherited half ( Joseph. A nti q xvii. 11.4.; Bell. ii. 6. 3), this correspond ence of the name and the share may be considered accidental. The three rulers to whom zerpcipxns or rerpapxCav is applied in the N. T. are—( i.) He rod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perma, Matt. xiv. ; Luke iii. 1, 19 ; ix. 7 ; Acts xiii. ; also styled by courtesy ficco-iNds, Mark vi. 14, etc. ; Matt. xiv. 9. (2.) Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, Aurinitis and Batanea, Luke iii. t. (3.) Lysanias of Abilene, Luke iii. 1.
For these persons, the limits of their tetrarchies, and the chronological difficulties connected with Lysanias, see Wieseler, Chron. Synops. of Gospels, translation 159-167 ; Hug. Gutachten; Noldius, De Reb. Herod. [HERODIAN FAMILY ; LYSANIAS1— E. V.