ANTIPAS HEROD, was one of the sons of Herod the Great, by his wife Cleopatra, who was a native of Jeru salem. His father Herod, in his first will, had appoint ed him his successor ; but altered this afterwards in favour of Archelaus. Antipas, advised by the orator Irendus, (who had been intimately acquainted with all the secrets of Herod's court) assisted by Salome, the sister of his father, accompanied by his mother Cleo patra, supported by numerous relations and friends, and favoured by many who had at first been the partisans of Archelaus, went to Rome, and disputed the validity of his father's last will. Augustus, however, adopted a midche course ; and, instead of bestowing the whole of Hcrocrs dominions upon any of his sons, he assigned a portion to each. Antipas received for his share the greater part of Galilee, with the country beyond Jor dan, which is generally called Pcrda; and the yearly amount of his revenues was estimated by Josephus at 200 talents. He began his government with rebuilding, and strongly fortifying, the city Sephoris, which he ren dered the bulwark of his dominions towards the west. He also built a very fine city on the banks of the lake Gennesaret, and gave to it the name of Tiberias, in honour of the Roman emperor Tiberius Cxsar.* Antipas at first married the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, and lived with her a long time ; but having stopped at the house of his brother Philip, on his way to Rome, he became enamoured of his wife Herodias.f As she discovered in him an ambitious mind; congenial to her own, she was easily persuaded to prefer him to her husband ; and it was agreed between them, that after he should have returned from Rome, and divorced his wife, she would be ready to join him in Galilee. The daughter of Aretas having been informed of this agree ment, found means to withdraw to the Arabian court, and acquainted her father with the intrigue and inten tion of her husband. Antipas, in the mean time, mar ried Herodias ; and was thus involved in a war with Aretas which lasted four years, and in which he was very unsuccesful. His new marriage was considered by the whole nation of the Jews, as•an unlawful connec tion ; and he was personally reproved for his conduct by John the Baptist. Enraged at this freedom, and insti gated by Herodias, he cast John into prison, (pretend ing, according to Josephus, that the assembling of such multitudes, to hear the instructions of the Baptist, was dangerous to the security of his government) and after wards, though with apparent reluctance, caused him to be beheaded. For a more particular account of this
transaction, see Mark, chap. vii. It was this same Herod Antipas who treated our Lord with such indignity, when he was sent to him by Pontius Pilate. Sec Luke xxiii.
Antipas was so hard pressed by the king of Arabia, that he was reduced to beg assistance from Tiberius, who immediately commanded his general Vitellius to secure Aretas as his captive, or to send his head to Rome. While Herod and Vitellius were concerting their measures at Jerusalem, they received intelligence of the death of Tiberius ; and Artabanes, in the mean time, succeeded Aretas in his kingdom. Antipas, ac companied by Vitcllius, had an interview with the new king nen. the Euphrates ;. and having concluded a peace, he gave a splendid entertainment on the banks of that river.
About six years after this event, Agrippa Herod, (the brother of Herodias and the nephew of Antipas) having received from Caligula very extensive dominions, with the title. of king, the ambitious Herodias, envious of this distinction, persuaded her husband to solicit from the emperor the same regal dignity ; and in the hope of aiding his cause by her arts and her presents, she accompanied him to Rome. The emperor, however, not only refused his request, but, having been rendered suspicious of his fidelity, by the representations of Agrippa, deprived him of his dominions, and banished him to Lyons, in Gaul. Caius, understanding that He rodias was the sister of his friend Agrippa, offered her a pardon, and promised also to repay the sum which she had lent to her brother, but she refused to avail herself of his generosity ; and as she had been the cause of her husband's disgrace, she determined to share his fate. Antipas, at the time of his baniAmient, had enjoyed his tetrarchy forty-three years. The time and manner of his death are not known; but it appears from Jose phus, that he spent his last days in Spain. See Joseph .,1ntiq.1. xvii, c. 12, IS. 1. 18. c. 7. 9. De Bell. Jud. 1. 2. c. 8. Univ. -gut. Hist. vol. 10, p. 521, 536, 627, 63'.7. (9)