Page 336 - Bible History

PREPARATION OF THE WO D FOR THE MESSIAS 309
Shortly after they had gained control of Palestine, the Romans built ten cities in this region. The neighbor­ hood of these ten cities was known as Decapolis.
Palestine was now a Roman province. The Ro- The mans did not govern it directly, but through rulers : ;e whom they approved. When our Savior was born, P n Herod the Great, an Edomite, was king of Palestine.
He had been appointed by the Roman ruler, Julius Caesar. The people hated him because he was not a
Jew, and also because of his great cruelty.
After the death of Herod, his kingdom was divided amo his three sons, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip. Archelaus governed Judea . and Samaria; Herod Antipas was ruler of Galilee and Perea; and Herod Philip governed the northeastern part of the land.
Ten years after the death of Herod the Great, about the time that our Lord was lost in the Temple, the Romans took the government of Samaria and Judea away from Archelaus because he had shown himself incapable of ruling wisely. In his place they put a procurator, or governor. This procurator was a Ro­ man and had his headquarters at Caesarea Palaestina. He went to Jerusalem only on the occasion of the great Jewish festivals.
The Romans kept a garrison of soldiers on guard The
in the city of Jerusalem. They were stationed in the :: ia Antonia, a forti ed building northwest of the Temple. Gabbalba Whenever the procurator was in Jerusalem, he lived
in a palace which had been built by Herod the Great
on Mount Sion, across the valley from the Temple.