The Jerusalem revolt of 4 BC occurred when the people of Jerusalem revolted against the new ethnarch of Judea, Herod Archelaus c.23 B.C, 18 A.D.. With assistance from a Roman legion under Publius Quinctilius Varus, Herod was able to slaughter the riotous mobs and assert his rule. However, the revolt and other atrocities by Archelaus led to Rome deciding to create the frontier province of Judaea in 6 A.D, permanently stationing legion VI in Caesarea, with one Cohort of Roman Auxiliary troops(Cohors II Italica) in Jerusalem, and appointing a prefect Coponius order to maintain order.
History[]
King Herod the Great of Judea was infamous for his wickedness, for his murders of rabbis, his own family, and even children. When he died in 4 BC, his son Herod Archelaus c.23 B.C-18 A.D, succeeded to the throne as Ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. When Archelaus returned to assume his duties as Ethnarch, riots broke out in Jerusalem. An old man stood on the top of the gates to Jerusalem and cried out "The old Herod is dead! Death to the new one! Long live Israel!". He then proceeded to topple a Roman eagle from the "Beautiful" gate of the Second Temple, and mobs began to fill the streets, even throwing rocks at Herod's palace. Herod sent a messenger to the Roman governor Quinirius in Antioch Syria to inform him that the eagle of Rome had been torn down and desecrated by a Jerusalem mob, leading to a Roman legion marching towards Jerusalem for fifteen days. The Roman soldiers proceeded to raze parts of the city, and they massacred the Jerusalemite mobs until they lay in heaps. The Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus then proceeded to publicly display the bodies of the rebels so as to maintain public order; he had 2,000 rebels crucified. As a result of several uprisings, his frequent violations of Mosaic law, and his constant cruelty towards his subjects, the Jewish Authorities appealed to Augustus Caesar for him to intervene for their cause. In 6 A.D, Augustus Caesar decided to depose Archelaus as Ethnarch and banish him to Gaul where he remained in exile until his death in 18 A.D, the Romans made Judea a frontier province under military occupation, sending Legio VI to Caesarea, with one Cohort of Roman Auxiliary (Cohors Italica II) troops stationed at the Fortress of Antonia and appointing a prefect Coponius who was governor until recalled to Rome in 9 A.D and was replaced by Marcus Ambivulus.