charge in which Antipas and Philip joined. The territory of Archelaus was
then made an imperial province of the second grade, ruled by a procurator
appointed from among the Roman knights. In provinces under an imperial
legate (propraetor) the procurator was an officer for the administration
of the revenues; in provinces of the rank of Judea he was, however, the
representative of the emperor in all the prerogatives of government,
having command of the army, and being the final resort in legal procedure,
as well as supervising the collection of the customs and taxes. Very
little is known of the procurators appointed after the deposition of
Archelaus, until Tiberius sent Pontius Pilate in A.D. 26. He held office
until he was deposed in 36. Josephus gives several examples of his wanton
disregard of Jewish prejudice, and of his extreme cruelty. His conduct at
the trial of Jesus was remarkably gentle and judicial in comparison with
other acts recorded of his government; yet the fear of trial at Rome,
which finally induced him to give Jesus over to be crucified, was
thoroughly characteristic; in fact, his downfall resulted from a complaint
lodged against him by certain Samaritans whom he had cruelly punished for
a Messianic uprising.

5. There were two sorts of Roman taxes in Judea: direct, which were
collected by salaried officials; and customs, which were farmed out to the
highest bidder. The direct taxes consisted of a land tax and a poll tax,
in the collection of which the procurator made use of the local Jewish
courts; the customs consisted of various duties assessed on exports, and
they were gathered by representatives of men who had bought the right to
collect these dues. The chiefs as well as their underlings are called
publicans in our New Testament, although the name strictly applies only to
the chiefs. These tax-gatherers, small and great, were everywhere despised
and execrated, because, in addition to their subserviency to a hated
government, they had a reputation, usually deserved, for all sorts of