Philip the Tetrarch

Tiberius featured on a coin struck by Philip the Tetrarch

The tetrarchy of Philip (4 BCE - 34 CE) as given to him following the death of his father, Herod the Great: Iturea, Trachonitis, Gaulanitis, Batanea, and Auranitis

Philip the Tetrarch (c. 26 BCE – 34 CE), sometimes called Herod Philip II by modern writers (see "Naming convention") was the son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem. As a Tetrarch, he ruled over the northeast part of his father's kingdom between 4 BCE and 34 CE after Herod's death. He was a half-brother of Herod Antipas and Herod Archelaus. He is not the same person as Herod II, whom some writers call Herod Philip I.

Territory

Philip ruled territories which the Gospel of Luke lists as Iturea and Trachonitis and Flavius Josephus lists as Gaulanitis, Trachonitis and Paneas as well as Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, and "a certain part of what is called the House of Zenodorus". The city of Caesarea Philippi served as the capital of his tetrarchy.

Marriage and dynasty

Philip married his niece Salome, the daughter of Herodias and Herod II (sometimes called Herod Philip I, and also a member of the Herodian dynasty). This Salome appears in the Bible in connection with the beheading of John the Baptist. However, there would have been a great difference in their ages: Salome was born in ~14 CE, at which time Herod Philip was 39 years old. The gospels of Matthew and Mark state that the Herodias whom Herod Antipas married was the wife of Antipas' brother "Philip", a fact supported by Josephus, who indicated she was the wife of Herod II (a.k.a. Philip I).

It is possible that the 'Salome' he was married to was a half-sister by that same name, a daughter of Herod the Great and his 8th wife Elpis. This sibling Salome was born c. 14 BCE, and so only five years younger than Herod Philip (a more realistic age gap). But this would also be the only known occurrence of the children of Herod the Great intermarrying, even if from different mothers. Marriage to first cousins and uncles, however, was relatively common in the so-called Herodian dynasty.

It is known that Philip the Tetrarch rebuilt the city of Caesarea Philippi, calling it by his own name to distinguish it from the Caesarea on the sea-coast, which was the seat of the Roman government.

Naming convention

There is no contemporary evidence for Philip the Tetrarch's use of the name "Herod Philip" (Greek: Ἡρώδης Φίλιππος, Hērōdēs Philippos) as a dynastic title, as did occur with his brothers Herod Antipas and Herod Archelaus. Herod II is sometimes called "Herod Philip I" (because both the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Mark call the husband of Herodias "Philip"), and then Philip the Tetrarch is called "Herod Philip II". Kokkinos says, "The stubborn insistence of many theologians in referring to Herod III as 'Herod Philip' is without any value...No illusory Herod Philip ever existed."^{[pp. 223–233]; [266]} Philip the Tetrarch, "unlike his brothers, did not use Herod as a dynastic name." Philip's half-brothers, Archelaus and Antipas, had adopted the name of Herod, "presumably" for a dynastic claim from Herod the Great.

Family tree of the Herodian dynasty

Main article: Herodian dynasty

There are three princes by the name Phasael in the Herodian dynasty, all three mentioned by Josephus in "War" (BJ) and "Antiquities" (AJ):

• Phasael I, son of Antipater and Cypros (BJ 1.181; AJ 14.121)
• Phasael II, son of Phasael I (BJ 1.266; AJ 17.196)
• Phasael III, son of Herod the Great (BJ 1.181; AJ 14.121) and father of Cypros/Kypros, wife of Agrippa I

Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea

1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace

Herod I the Great king of Judea

5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis

Phasael governor of Jerusalem

(1) Antipater heir of Judaea

(2) Alexander I prince of Judea

(2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea

(3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea

(4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea

(4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea

(5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis

Tigranes V of Armenia

Alexander II prince of Judea

Herod Agrippa I king of Judea

Herod V ruler of Chalcis

Aristobulus Minor

Tigranes VI of Armenia

Herod Agrippa II king of Judea

Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis

Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia

Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia

Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia

Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch

See also

• Herodian dynasty
• Herodian kingdom
• List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources

Bibliography

• Vol. 10: The Augustan empire, 44 B.C.–A.D. 70. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • J. B. Bury; S.A. Cook; F.E. Adcock; M.P. Charlesworth; N.H. Baynes, eds. (1965) [latest reprint]. ~.
  • Bowman, Alan K.; Champlin, Edward; Lintott, Andrew, eds. (2001) [1996]. ~. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521264308. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
• Kokkinos, Nikos (1998). "The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse". Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press: 236–240.

External links

• Philip the Tetrarch entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Herod Philip II biographical entry