Ventidius Cumanus ('' fl.'' 1st century AD) was the Roman

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

Iudaea Province Judaea ( la, Iudaea ; grc, Ἰουδαία, translit=Ioudaíā ) was a Roman province which incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 6 CE, extending over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of ...

from AD 48 to c. AD 52. A disagreement between the surviving sources, the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

and the Roman

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, makes it unclear whether his authority was over some or all of the province. Cumanus' time in office was marked by disputes between his troops and the Jewish population. Ventidius Cumanus failed to respond to an anti-Jewish murder in Samaritan territory which led to the violent conflict between Jews and Samaritans. Following an investigation by the governor of Syria,

Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus (c. 12 BC – c. 60 AD) was a Roman senator of the Principate. He was the first member of the Ummidii to reach the office of consul in his family, or a ''homo novus''. Quadratus is also known for his tenure as gov ...

, Cumanus was sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for a hearing before the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Claudius, who held him responsible for the violence and sentenced him to exile.

Procuratorship of Iudaea

Nothing is known about Cumanus before he was appointed

Iudaea Judaea ( la, Iudaea ; grc, Ἰουδαία, translit=Ioudaíā ) was a Roman province which incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 6 CE, extending over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of ...

in 48, in succession to

Tiberius Julius Alexander Tiberius Julius Alexander (fl. 1st century) was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire. Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion, he rose to become the 2nd procurator of Ju ...

Scope of Authority

Josephus, the main source for Cumanus' career, presents him as governing the whole of Iudaea until 52, when he was succeeded by Marcus Antonius Felix.Josephus, ''War'
2.247
''Antiquities'
20.137
However, Tacitus states that Felix was already governing

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...

before 52, while Cumanus had authority over Galilee to the north (see map).Tacitus, ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'
12.54
Tacitus does not mention who controlled other areas of the province. This conflict has led historians to take a number of positions on political arrangements in the province. Some have argued that Josephus' greater knowledge of Jewish affairs justifies favouring his account. M. Aberbach believes that there was a division of power, but that Tacitus reversed the governors' areas of authority and that Cumanus actually governed the south and Felix the north; this fits better with Josephus, who describes Cumanus as active in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and nearby. Another suggestion is that part of the province was transferred to Felix after disturbances under Cumanus' rule.

Roman-Jewish conflict

Under Alexander, the province of Iudaea had enjoyed a period of relative peace, but that proved to be transient, as Cumanus' governorship was marked by a series of serious public disturbances. Trouble started while Jewish pilgrims were gathered in

for the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

feast. Cumanus, following the precedent set by earlier governors, assembled a detachment of Roman soldiers on the roof of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

portico to maintain order among the crowds, but one caused chaos by exposing himself to the Jews in the courtyard while calling out insults. Some of the Jews brought their complaints to Cumanus, but others began to retaliate by hurling stones at the soldiers. Some openly accused Cumanus of being responsible for the provocation – a sign that relations between governor and provincials may already have been poor.Smallwood, p. 264. Finding himself unable to calm the angry crowd, Cumanus called for fully armed reinforcements, who assembled either in the Temple courtyard or on the roof of the

Antonia Fortress The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic: קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony, as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple. It was built in Jerusalem at the ...

, overlooking the Temple. In the ensuing stampede, according to

' estimates, between twenty and thirty thousand people were crushed to death. These numbers may be exaggerated, but the loss of life was substantial; the feast, says Josephus, "became the cause of mourning to the whole nation". Further unrest was triggered when an Imperial slave named Stephanus was robbed while travelling near

Beth-horon Bethoron ( he, בֵית־חוֹרֹ֔ן, lit=house of Horon; grc, Ὡρωνείν), also Beth-Horon, was the name of two adjacent ancient towns strategically located on the Gibeon-Aijalon road, guarding the "ascent of Beth-Horon". The towns are ...

. Troops sent by Cumanus to arrest the leading men of the nearby villages began plundering the area. One of them, finding a copy of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, destroyed it in view of the villagers while shouting blasphemies. Angered by this insult to God and to the Jewish religion, a crowd of Jews confronted Cumanus at Caesarea Maritima, demanding that the guilty party should be punished. This time the governor acted decisively and ordered that the soldier responsible should be beheaded in front of his accusers, temporarily restoring the calm.

Jewish-Samaritan conflict

The events that would cost Cumanus his office began with the murder of one or more Galilean pilgrims who had been travelling through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. A Galilean embassy asked Cumanus to investigate but received little attention; Josephus alleges that he had been bribed by the Samaritans to turn a blind eye. The result was that a crowd of Jews decided to take the law into their own hands. Under the leadership of two

Zealots The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jew ...

, Eleazar and Alexander, they invaded Samaria and began a massacre. Cumanus led most of his troops against the militants, killing many and taking others prisoner, and the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem were subsequently able to calm most of the others, but a state of guerrilla warfare persisted. Meanwhile, two separate embassies had been dispatched to Tyre to appeal to Ummidius Caius Quadratus, who as ''

legatus pro praetore A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...

'' or governor of Syria had some authority over the lower-ranking

of Iudaea. One, from the Samaritans, protested the Jewish attacks on Samaritan villages. The Jewish counter-embassy held the Samaritans responsible for the violence and accused Cumanus of siding with them. Agreeing to investigate, Quadratus proceeded in 52 to Iudaea, where he had all of Cumanus' Jewish prisoners

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

and ordered the beheading of several other Jews and Samaritans who had been involved in the fighting. Perhaps after hearing a case against Cumanus in Iudaea, Quadratus sent him, along with several Jewish and Samaritan leaders including the High Priest Ananias, to plead their cases in

before the

Claudius. At the hearing, several of Claudius' influential

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...

officials took the side of Cumanus. However, the Jews were supported by Agrippa II, a friend of Claudius whose father, Agrippa I, had been the last king of Iudaea before the province was placed under Roman procurators. Whether influenced by court politics or not, Claudius decided in favour of the Jewish side. The Samaritan leaders were executed and Cumanus was sent into exile.Josephus, ''War'
2.243-246
''Antiquities'
20.131-136
Felix succeeded him as procurator of Iudaea. Cumanus' life and career after his banishment are unknown.

Notes

References

Ancient

, ''

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

'
2.223-247
* Josephus, ''

Antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...

'
20.103-137
*

, ''

'
12.54

Modern

* * *