Editing Gaius Caesar (section)

=== Herodian succession ===

Following the death of King [[Herod the Great|Herod]] of [[Herodian kingdom|Judaea]] in 4{{nbsp}}BC,<ref>The death of Herod was on 1 January BC according to some scholars. See Andrew Steinmann, ''From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology.'' (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2011), Print. pp. 219-256.
W.E. Filmer, "The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the Great". The Journal of Theological Studies, 1966. 17(2): p. 283-298.
Finegan, Jack. ''Handbook of Biblical Chronology: Principles of Time Reckoning in the Ancient World and Problems of Chronology in the Bible.'' Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998, 2015. pp. 238-279.</ref> his sons [[Herod Antipas|Antipas]] and [[Herod Archelaus|Archelaus]] both came to Rome with their own copy of Herod's will to plead their case as to why they each deserved to inherit their father's kingdom. Augustus, as usual, declined the sole responsibility of the decision. He convened a council of senators, among whom he included Gaius. The council decided to ratify the will brought by Archelaus, which included a large bequest to Augustus and his wife [[Livia]].<ref>Josephus, ''[http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-17.htm Antiquities of the Jews]'', XVII.9.5</ref><ref name=Ferrero257>{{harvnb|Ferrero|1909|p=257}}</ref> The cities of Judaea rose in revolt after the ''procurator'', Sabinus, garrisoned [[Syria Palaestina]] to guard the tens of millions of [[sesterces]] promised to the Emperor.<ref>Josephus, ''[http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-17.htm Antiquities of the Jews]'', XVII.10.2–10</ref> The governor of Syria, [[Publius Quinctilius Varus|Varus]], was forced to bring in the legions from Syria to restore order.<ref name=Ferrero257/>

At the same time, [[Phraates IV|King Phraates IV]] of [[Parthia]] had seized Armenia with the help of Armenian nationalists, and expelled [[Tigranes IV]], the king installed by Rome.<ref>Velleius Paterculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2D*.html#100 II.100]</ref> Historian [[Guglielmo Ferrero|Ferrero]] speculates that Phraates may have been hoping to use Armenia as a bargaining chip to secure the release of his sons who were held captive by the Romans. Roman supremacy in Asia depended on its possession of Armenia as a protectorate. Before Rome could deal with the Parthians in Armenia, it would first need to make its Syrian legions available, which were still tied down in Palestine.<ref name=Ferrero259>{{harvnb|Ferrero|1909|p=259}}</ref> In order to free up the legions there, the Kingdom of Judaea was divided among the sons of Herod the Great. One half remained under Archelaus, while the other half was subdivided between his brothers, Antipas and [[Herod II|Philip]]. This served to restore stability to the region, whilst keeping Judaea from becoming powerful. Having settled matters in Judaea, the Emperor decided to deploy an army to Armenia to re-establish its status as a Roman protectorate and to show the eastern world that Rome held dominion over all land as far as the [[Euphrates]].<ref name=Ferrero259/>