Antipater the Idumaean

Antipater I the Idumaean (113 or 114 BCE – 43 BCE) was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas and had formerly held that name.

A native of Idumaea, a region southeast of Judah in which the Edomites settled during the classical period, Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of the Roman general Pompey the Great when Pompey conquered Judah in the name of Roman Republic.

After Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus, Antipater sided with Caesar during the Roman Civil War. During Caesar's Egyptian campaign, Antipater joined Mithridates of Pergamon's army marching to rescue Caesar in Alexandria. Caesar made him chief minister of Judea, as Judah became known to the Romans, with the right to collect taxes. Eventually Caesar made Antipater's sons Phasaelus and Herod the governors of Jerusalem and Galilee, respectively. After the assassination of Caesar, Antipater was forced to side with the Liberators against the Caesarians. The pro-Roman politics of Antipater led to his increasing unpopularity among the devout, non-Hellenised Jews. He died by poison.

The diplomacy and artful politics of Antipater, as well as his insinuation into the Hasmonean court, paved the way for the rise of his son Herod the Great, who used this position to marry the Hasmonean princess Mariamne, endear himself to Rome and become king of Judea under Roman influence.