The arrondissement of Chaumont is an arrondissement of France, in the Haute-Marne department, Grand Est region. Its capital, and prefecture of the department, is the city of Chaumont.
When the Haute-Marne department was created on 1800, the "arrondissement" of Chaumont was part of that original department.
The "arrondissement" of Chaumont is in the centre of the Haute-Marne department. It is bordered to the north by the Saint-Dizier "arrondissement", to the east by the Vosges department, to the south by the Langres "arrondissement", to the southwest by the Côte-d'Or department and to the west by the Aube department.
The "arrondissement" of Chaumont is the largest "arrondissement" of the department, with an area , but the second in population (64,970 inhabitants) with a population density of inhabitants/km².
After the reorganisation of the cantons in France, cantons are not subdivisions of the "arrondissements" so they could have "communes" that belong to different "arrondissements".
In the "arrondissement" of Chaumont, there are eight cantons and four of them do not have all their "communes" in the "arrondissement":
The "arrondissement" of Chaumont has 159 "communes"; they are (with their INSEE codes)ː
The "communes" in the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants are:
Arrondissement of Langres
The arrondissement of Langres is an arrondissement of France, in the Haute-Marne department, Grand Est region. Its capital is the city of Langres.
When the Haute-Marne department was created on 1800, the "arrondissement" of Langres was part of that original department.
The "arrondissement" of Langres is in the southern part of the Haute-Marne department. It is bordered to the north by the Chaumont "arrondissement", to the northeast by the Vosges department, to the southeast by the Haute-Saône department, and to the south and west by the Côte-d'Or department.
The "arrondissement" of Langres is the second largest "arrondissement" of the department, with an area , but the one with fewest inhabitants (44,332 inhabitants) and a population density of inhabitants/km².
After the reorganisation of the cantons in France, cantons are not subdivisions of the "arrondissements" so they could have "communes" that belong to different "arrondissements".
In the "arrondissement" of Langres, there are five cantons and two of them do not have all their "communes" in the "arrondissement":
The "arrondissement" of Langres has 157 "communes"; they are (with their INSEE codes)ː
The "communes" in the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants are:
Arrondissement of Saint-Dizier
The arrondissement of Saint-Dizier is an arrondissement of France, in the Haute-Marne department, Grand Est region. Its capital is the city of Saint-Dizier.
When the Haute-Marne department was created on 1800, the "arrondissement" of Saint-Dizier was part of that original department.
In 1800, the subprefecture was moved to Wassy. On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Wassy was eliminated but in 1940 Wassy was made again an arrondissement but the subprefecture was moved back to Saint-Dizier.
The "arrondissement" of Saint-Dizier is the most northern of the "arrondissements" of the Haute-Marne department. It is bordered to the north and east by the Meuse department, to the southeast by the Vosges department, to the south by the Arrondissement of Chaumont "arrondissement", to the west by the Aube department and to the northwest by the Marne department.
The "arrondissement" of Saint-Dizier is the smallest "arrondissement" of the department, with an area of , but the one with more inhabitants (71,371 inhabitants) and a population density of inhabitants/km².
After the reorganisation of the cantons in France, cantons are not subdivisions of the "arrondissements" so they could have "communes" that belong to different "arrondissements".
In the "arrondissement" of Saint-Dizier, there are eight cantons and two of them do not have all their "communes" in the "arrondissement":
The "arrondissement" of Saint-Dizier has 111 "communes"; they are (with their INSEE codes)ː
The "communes" in the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants are:
Herod the Great
Herod I ( 74/73 BCE – 4 BCE/1 CE), also known as Herod the Great, was the King of Judea from 37 to 4 BC. At the time Judea was a client state of Rome. During his 33 year reign, Herod was an excellent administrator. But he is most famous for the Bible account of his killing the boys of Bethlehem. While this is not confirmed by other historical records, Herod did murder countless rivals, a mother-in-law, a wife and three of his sons.
Herod was born about 73–75 BC. He was the son of Antipater the Idumaean and his wife Cyprus, the daughter of an Arabian sheik. Both Herod's grandfather and his father were political officials in Judea. Both had close ties to the Romans. When Antipater came to the aid of Julius Caesar after the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, Caesar made Antipater the governor of Judea. In 47 BC Antipater made his oldest son, phasael, the governor of Jerusalem. He made Herod governor of Galilee. As governor, Herod won favor with the Romans by his dealing with hostile revolts. At the same time his actions were censured by the Great Sanhedrin.
Herod was friends with Octavian and Mark Antony who in 40 BC had the Roman Senate designate Herod as the next king of Judea. Herod traveled to the Temple of Jupiter to give thanks to the gods of Rome. When the king of Judea was beheaded in 37 BC, Herod became the "de facto" king.
During Herod's early years as king, Mark Antony's relationship with Cleopatra allowed the Egyptian queen to keep taking small parts of Herod's kingdom. When Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Herod made a new alliance with Octavian. He gained a reputation for his harsh taxes but was able to keep the peace in the region. He sent expensive gifts to Rome but did not have to pay tribute. By 30 BC, he had regained all the territory Cleopatra and the Hasmoneans had taken. He expanded his rule into northern Galilee and resettled several areas. By giving extravagant gifts to Athens and supporting the Olympic Games he increased the status of Judea in the Mediterranean world.
Herod saw himself as the perfect example of a refined king even if Bible writers saw him as a tyrant. He became completely involved in Greco-Roman history, culture and philosophy. At the same time he began neglecting the affairs of state and the study of Halakha (Jewish law). He needed the consent of the Pharisees in order to rule so he kept trying to gain their approval in a number of ways. He never won them over completely. When he built the Caesarea Maritima (22–10 BC) in honor of his patron Caesar Augustus, the pagan symbols decorating his cities upset the Jewish leaders. He organized fights between gladiators every five years and celebrated with orgies, which further upset the Jewish leaders. In 20 BC, Herod turned his attention to building the renovations for the Second Temple, also called Herod's Temple. While Herod wanted the temple to be the crowning monument to the Jewish faith, he used Greek architects. He allowed moneylenders to operate in the temple courtyard which angered many Jews.
His greatest religious scandal was digging up King David's Tomb to find the treasure it was rumoured to contain. He had spent great sums of money on his other projects and thought that by secretly robbing the tomb he could profit from any treasure he found there. But on opening the tomb, there was no treasure.
He rebuilt the fortresses at Masada and Herodium. After a severe earthquake in 31 BC, he built a new market, a new
amphitheater and a new building for the Sanhedrin. He built a new royal palace for himself. He also improved the water supply for Jerusalem.