# Philip the Tetrarch

Philip the Tetrarch (c. 26 BCE – 33 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 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." This is consistent with the usage in the New Testament, where in the three instances where Philip is named (Matthew 14:3, Mark 6:17, Luke 3:1), his name is not preceded by the family name "Herod." Philip's half-brothers, Archelaus and Antipas, had adopted the name of Herod, "presumably" for a dynastic claim from Herod the Great.

## Years of reign

There are various problems in determining the beginning and ending years of the reign of Philip. The first problem is whether he reigned 32, 36, or 37 years, all of which variants appear in different copies of the relevant passage in Josephus (Antiquities 18.106/18.4.6). This issue has now been settled by the coins that Philip issued during his reign. The dated coins are from his years 5, 12, 16, 19, 30, 34, and 37, thus determining that 37 was the original figure in Josephus.
The second problem is matching Philip's 37th and last year with the reign of Tiberius, so that an absolute date (AD/CE) can be assigned. Here again there are variants in the passage just cited in Josephus (Ant. 18.106): Some texts of Josephus say Philip's death was in the twentieth year of Tiberius, as appears in modern versions, or in Tiberius’s twenty-second year, "as given in the many Latin manuscripts issued before AD 1455. Adding to the ambiguity is whether Josephus was using 'factual' years for the reign of Tiberius (dating his years from the exact date he was declared emperor by the Senate) or by calendar years starting on January 1." Steinmann and Young conclude (p. 451) that Josephus used the factual method for Roman emperors, as is suggested by his giving their reign lengths in the exact terms of years, months, and days rather than just years as he does for Judean rulers.
Philip issued a coin that gives to which he assigns year 19 of reign. This coin honors Tiberius as the new emperor after Tiberius took the throne of Rome on the death of Augustus in August of 14 CE. Philip’s coin commemorating Tiberius's emperorship could only have been issued after the news of the death of Augustus reached Judea, which would have been after the start of the Judean regnal year that began in Tishri of 14 CE. Since this places Philip's coin of year 19 as the year beginning in Tishri of 14 CE, his year 37, in which he died, would have eighteen years later, in the Judean regnal year that began in Tishri of 32 CE. This rules out the variants of Josephus that have Philip dying in the 22nd year of Tiberius, which would have begun by "factual" reckoning in August of 35 (21 years later than August 14 CE), but it is consistent with the twentieth factual year of Augustus, which began in August of 33. The overlap of these two counting systems, the Judean with Tishri-based years and the Roman with years from the start of emperorship, thereby narrows the death of Philip to the period from September 18 to October 14 of 33 CE.
In order to ensure accuracy, the foregoing discussion used, for Judean rulers such as Philip, the Judean method of starting the regnal year in the lunar month of Tishri. The first day of Tishri occurs in either September or October of the Roman-based calendar that we use to this day. That Judeans in the first century BCE and the first century CE used a Tishri-based calendar for governmental affairs, which would include the reigns of Judean kings and tetrarchs, is made explicit by Josephus in Antiquities 1.81/1.3.3:
   After relating that Moses instituted Nisan as the first month for festivals and "everything related to divine worship," he [Josephus] continues: . . . "concerning, however, buying (praseis) and selling (onas) and the other financial administration [or tax administration] (dioikasin) he [Moses] preserved the earlier arrangement." The lexicons give the meaning of dioikasin as "administration, management," or "control, government, administration, treasury department." There is no meaning of "ordinary affairs" as rendered by Whiston and later Thackeray. By using the word dioikasis, Josephus clearly meant that the affairs of government (administration) were according to a Tishri-based calendar, and it is unfortunate that Thackeray apparently followed Whiston in rendering this Greek word in English. Josephus was stating that all activities other than those related to divinely mandated religious observances would be reckoned by a fall calendar that started with the first day of Tishri.
Since the evidence of the coins is that Philip reigned 37 years, and his final year began in Tishri of 32 CE, which may be written as 32t CE (the 't' for Tishri), he must have reckoned the start of his reign, 37 years earlier, as being in the year 32t CE – 37 - 1 (no year zero) = 6t BCE, i.e. the year that began in Tishri of 6 BCE. This is before the year of the death of Herod the Great in either the old Schürer chronology, 4 BC, or in the newer chronology of Filmer, Finegan, and Steinmann that puts the death of Herod in the spring of 1 BCE. The conclusion must be that Philip antedated the beginning of his reign to a time before the death of his father, Herod the Great. The new evidence that has been produced from a study of all the Herodian coins that give a year number shows that Herod Antipas also antedated his reign to 6 BCE.
As for the immediate successor of Herod the Great, his son Herod Archelaus, none of his coins bear a year number. The end of his reign and his banishment to Gaul came before the fall of 6 CE, which would be in the Judean (Tishri-based) year 5t CE. Since Josephus gives him a reign of ten years (Ant. 17.342/17.13.2), his (antedated) beginning of reign must have been 5t CE - 10 - 1 (no year zero) = 6t BCE, in agreement with his other Herodian relatives whose gave dates on their coins.
The explanation of this strange phenomenon—that all the sons of Herod the Great antedated their reigns to a time well before his death, even when accepting Schürer's now outdated chronology for that event (4 BCE), is explained in detail in the article previously cited. There are thousands if not tens of thousands of Herodian coins which bear a year number in private collections around the world, and all of them are consistent with the starting date of 6/5 BCE (6t BCE) to which these ethnarchs and kings antedated their reigns. None of them bear a year number that places them before the death of Herod in 1 BCE, simply because Herod's successors would not have had the authority to mint coins until after the death of Herod the Great.

## Family tree of the 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 | Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea | Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea | Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea | Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea | Antipater the Idumaean procurator of Judea |
| | | | | | | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | 1.Doris 2.Mariamne I 3.Mariamne II 4.Malthace | Herod I the Great king of Judea | Herod I the Great king of Judea | Herod I the Great king of Judea | Herod I the Great king of Judea | Herod I the Great king of Judea | Herod I the Great king of Judea | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | 5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem 6.Pallas 7.Phaidra 8.Elpis | Phasael governor of Jerusalem | Phasael governor of Jerusalem | Phasael governor of Jerusalem | Phasael governor of Jerusalem | Phasael governor of Jerusalem | Phasael governor of Jerusalem |
| (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (1) Antipater heir of Judaea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Alexander I prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (2) Aristobulus IV prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (3) Herod II Philip prince of Judea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Idumea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (4) Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilea & Perea | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis | (5) Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea & Trachonitis |
| Tigranes V of Armenia | Tigranes V of Armenia | Tigranes V of Armenia | Tigranes V of Armenia | Tigranes V of Armenia | Tigranes V of Armenia | Alexander II prince of Judea | Alexander II prince of Judea | Alexander II prince of Judea | Alexander II prince of Judea | Alexander II prince of Judea | Alexander II prince of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod Agrippa I king of Judea | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Herod V ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus Minor | Aristobulus Minor | Aristobulus Minor | Aristobulus Minor | Aristobulus Minor | Aristobulus Minor |
| | | | | | | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Tigranes VI of Armenia | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Herod Agrippa II king of Judea | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | Aristobulus ruler of Chalcis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | Gaius Julius Alexander ruler of Cilicia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Agrippa quaestor of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia | Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus proconsul of Asia |
| | | | | | | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa gymnasiarch | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |