Parthian-Backed Upheaval in Judea and Siege of Jerusalem

Rome’s defeat at Carrhae created openings across the eastern provinces. In Judea, during Rome’s civil wars, the Parthians supported Antigonus Mattathias against the weakened Hasmonean-Roman alliance. Herod, a client ruler favored by Rome, fled to secure backing from the triumvirs [4].

By 37/36 BCE, with Antony’s authorization, Gaius Sosius, governor of Syria, marched south with legions and allied troops. The army advanced from Antioch through Galilee toward Jerusalem, a city of thick walls, steep approaches, and sacred topography. Josephus describes the grinding siege and final assault—ladders, towers, and the steady thud of rams against stone while defenders shouted from the battlements [4].

Inside Jerusalem, factions fought and starved. Outside, the Roman camps glowed orange at night, their ditches lined with stakes. Sosius pressed the attack. “He took the city by force,” Josephus writes, an economical line covering days of screams and the crash of gates. Herod entered with him; Antigonus’ royal pretensions ended in chains [4].

The Romans minted victory in blood and ceremony. Herod was confirmed king. His scarlet robes and diadem signaled a return to the Roman orbit, even as the streets still smelled of smoke and lamp oil. Antioch and Caesarea echoed with reports: Judea had been torn loose from Parthian influence and grafted back to Rome [4].

But the deeper lesson lay beyond Jerusalem’s walls. Parthian power projected not only by battle but by king-making, and Judea’s convulsion showed how quickly the frontier’s political fabric could fray when Rome faltered in Mesopotamia.