Judea

Judea (Latin rendition of Judah, the former tribal region allocated to the Hebrew tribe by that name) was the name of the Roman province which incorporated its namesake, Samaria and Idumea (Edom). Roman occupation of the area began in 63 BC and lasted until AD 135 when the province was disbanded after a second revolt of the Jews.

After years of poor government, Herod's son Archelaus was deposed by the Roman government in AD 6, bringing his tetrarchy under the direct control of a Roman governor. In AD 41 Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, was given control of all of the Roman Judea, receiving the title "king of the Jews" once held by his grandfather. The Herodian dynasty had ingratiated the Jews by way of building projects that included an upgraded temple complex in Jerusalem, the capital of the district.

The "district" of Judea covered much the same territory as the southern kingdom of Judah, sitting between the Great Sea and the Salt Sea and between Samaria and Idumea. Within its borders were both the birthplace and the site of the execution and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. It was from a guest room in Jerusalem that Jesus' disciples would begin the task given to them when he commissioned them in the Galilean hill country.