Antipater the Idumaean

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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Antipater the Idumaean has received more than 324,019 page views. His biography is available in 29 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 26 in 2019). Antipater the Idumaean is the 3,780th most popular politician (down from 3,110th in 2019).

Antipater the Idumaean was the first governor of Judea following the death of Herod the Great. Antipater is most famous for his brutal suppression of the Jewish population in Jerusalem in 4 BCE, in which he had over 2000 Jews killed.