jews in a graeco- roman world 103
and Augustus in the new city of Caesarea which he founded on the
Mediterranean coast and by his pride in presenting himself as patron of
the Olympic games in Greece. He even tried briefly to introduce both
Greek games and Roman wild- beast shows to the Jewish public in Jeru-
salem, but was persuaded to desist by public displays of opposition.^22
The impact of Herod’s reign on the religious lives of his Jewish sub-
jects was thus ambiguous. The magnificence of the rebuilt Temple in
Jerusalem, with its greatly expanded main courtyard erected over arches
built according to the latest Roman architectural techniques, encour-
aged a much enhanced pilgrimage industry which benefited also from
the comparative security of travel across the Mediterranean in a world
unified under Rome. But the High Priests appointed to preside over the
sacrifices were from obscure families from Babylonia and Egypt, care-
fully selected by Herod to ensure that they would prove no threat to his
own power. Any priest who had once held the highest office inevitably
retained a certain aura from so illustrious a role, but it would take time
for a new high priestly elite to emerge, and no new priestly families ever
matched the authority and prestige of the Hasmonaeans, or of the
descendants of Zadok who had held the high priesthood before them.
The years immediately before Herod’s death in 4 bce were marked
by intense struggles for power within his large family. Herod frequently
changed his will in his last years. His son Archelaus eventually suc-
ceeded him as ruler of Judaea, but with the less prestigious title of
ethnarch (‘ruler of the nation’) rather than king, and parts of Herod’s
territory were placed under the separate control of his brothers Antipas
and Philip. The ethnarch lasted only ten years in power – in 6 ce Aug-
ustus sent him into exile in Gaul and placed Judaea under the direct
control of a Roman governor.
The establishment of direct Roman rule required military interven-
tion by Quirinius, the governor of Syria, in order to impose a census on
the inhabitants of the new province, but, once this had been carried out,
the emperor decided that Judaea could be safely entrusted to a junior
Roman governor with minimal forces at his disposal. The Roman state
expected order to be maintained primarily through the cooperation of
local leaders, whose authority within the subject population was in turn
reinforced by Rome. Members of the Herodian family were to continue
to play an occasional role for this purpose in the internal politics of
Judaea over the next sixty years, but after the removal of Archelaus in 6
ce the main representative of the Jews in the eyes of the Roman gov-
ernor became the High Priest in the Temple, and the high priestly