Herod Antipas Biography

Herod Antipas was tetrarch, or local ruler, of parts of Palestine from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D. Like his father, King Herod, he ruled with permission of the Roman government that controlled much of the Mediterranean region. Less accomplished than his father (and never really a king, though the Bible erroneously calls him that once), he is credited with building a city on the Sea of Galilee and naming it for his friend, the Roman emperor Tiberius. According to Christian scriptures, he ordered John the Baptist beheaded at the request of his own daughter (egged on by her mother) after John had criticized the ruler’s marriage as improper. He was also a questioner of the soon-to-be-executed Jesus. Herod Antipas died in exile in Gaul or Spain, having lost a family power struggle with Herod Agrippa I in the year 39.