He was an ancient leader (tetrarch, meaning “ruler of a quarter”) of Galilee and Perea. Born in 20 BC, Antipas was a son of Herod the Great, who had become king of Judea; and Malthace, who was from Samaria. He and full-brother Archelaus and his half-brother Herod Philip were educated in Rome, as a kind of friendly hostage situation in order to maintain Herod the Great’s
compliance with Augustus Caesar. He married Herodias, his brother’s wife which caused John the Baptist to rebuke him, eventually leading to John’s beheading at the behest of Herodias’ daughter, Salome.