Antipater’s Campaigns and Advance to Power

With the dissolution of the Roman political alliance known as the First Triumvirate, Pompey and Julius Caesar became political and military rivals. Josephus relates that after Pompey’s death in 48 BCE, Antipater I, who had been a supporter of Pompey, seizes power and shifts his allegiance to Caesar. Antipater fights a series of battles on behalf of Caesar and eventually earns the right of Roman citizenship as well as the procuratorship of Judaea. Caesar then appoints Hyrcanus high priest.