Zenodor (tetrarch)

Zenodor ( ancient Greek Ζηνόδωρος ; d. Ca. 20 BC) is the ruler of the principality (then tetrarch ) in Itury after 36 - ca. 20 BC e., the last actual ruler of the Iturian state ^[1] .

Perhaps an Arab by birth. According to Josephus Flavius , he bought or rented the property of the tetrarch of Lisania , executed by Mark Antony . Since these lands gave little income, Zenodor encouraged the plundering of the residents of Trahonitida who robbed Damascus possessions. Residents of border areas appealed to the governor of Syria, and about 22 years BC. er ^[2] Augustus ordered that part of Zenodor’s territories, Trahonitida, Batanei, and Avranitida , be transferred to Herod so that the king of Judea would stop the predatory raids. Zenodor went to Rome, but achieved nothing from the emperor; then he sold Avranitida to the Arabs for 50 talents. Since this region was to withdraw to Herod, an armed conflict began between him and the Arabs ^[3] .

In 20 BC er Augustus arrived in Syria. Zenodor supported the inhabitants of Gadara , who complained to the emperor about the cruelty and tyrannical rule of Herod. Since August ignored these complaints, the people of Gadar chose to commit suicide in order not to fall into the hands of the executioners of the Jewish king. According to Josephus Flavius, “to this great success of the king, another one was added,” when Zenodor received some kind of bowel damage and died in Antioch from blood loss ^[4] . Researchers believe that sudden death in the city where Augustus and Herod were located could have been violent ^[5] .

After this, Augustus handed over to Herod a significant part of the land of Zenodor - Ulafu and the Paniada region ( Banias ) between Trakhonitida and Galilee ^[4] .

There are different opinions regarding the belonging of Zenodor to the Itureian dynasty. Based on the gravestone inscription from Heliopolis (“Zenodor, son of Lysania from the Lysania tetrarchy” ^[6] ), many researchers consider him the son of tetrarch Lisania ^[7] . According to Henri Seyrig , this inscription speaks of the son of another Lisan , the tetrarch Abilena , who was thus brought to the grandson of the first Zenodor ^[8] . The basis for this conclusion is that in the inscription Zenodor himself is not called a tetrarch. Others believe that with the current state of the sources it is impossible to resolve this issue ^[1] . The only narrative source, Josephus, writes that “a certain Zenodor” bought the possessions of Lisania, and does not indicate the existence of a relative connection between them ^[9] .

There are two coin issues from Zenodor: 31/30 and 26/25 BC. e., on the coins of the latter, he is called the tetrarch and high priest (during the life of Cleopatra, from whom he apparently rented to Ithuri, he could not be titrated by a tetrarch). The accusations of robbery that Joseph leads apparently reflect Herod's point of view, and were borrowed from the writings of Nicholas of Damascus ^[10] .