=Antipater's Services to Rome.= During the two decades that followed the Roman conquest of Palestine, Judea was deeply affected by the great convulsions through which Rome passed in its transition from a republican to an imperial form of government. During this turbulent and dramatic era Antipater, the Idumean, remained the ruling power in Judea and profited by each change of ruler. His policy was to retain the friendship of Rome at any cost and to ally himself with the man of the hour. His chief aim was to further his own personal interests. He was influenced by no patriotic zeal or racial prejudices. At the same time he showed great skill in steering his course amidst the storms that swept the Roman world during these tempestuous years. When Pompey was defeated at the battle of Pharsalia in 49 B.C. Antipater actively allied himself with the cause of Julius Cæsar. When an army of the victor marched to the conquest of Egypt he sent Jewish auxiliaries and fought valiantly at their head, both in the siege of Pelusium and that of Memphis. He also at a critical moment influenced the Nabateans and the Jews of Egypt to ally themselves with the cause of Cæsar. =Rewards for His Services.= As a reward for his services Antipater was made procurator of Judea. His elder son, Phasael was appointed governor of Jerusalem and his younger son, Herod, of Galilee. Hyrcanus was given the title of ethnarch. Joppa, which opened the trade of the Mediterranean to Judea, was added to the province. The rights of the Jews in foreign countries were also guarded by Cæsar, who always showed himself a patron and friend of the race. His assassination in 44 B.C., and the murder of Antipater by an ambitious Jewish noble one year later, did not undermine the influence of the Idumean house. Mark Antony, who was then Rome's representative in the east, at once appointed Herod and Phasael civil rulers of Judea to succeed their father. =The Parthian Conquest.= In 40 B.C., however, the Parthians for a brief time pushed the boundaries of their empire westward to the Mediterranean and placed Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, on the throne of his fathers. Phasael was treacherously put to death by the Parthians. Hyrcanus's ears were cut off and he was carried captive to Babylon, and the Sadducean nobles who rallied about Antigonus either slew or drove from the land the followers of their former Idumean rulers.