Archelaus, Herod's successor, had far less authority than Herod, and the real power of government at Jerusalem was assumed by the Roman procurators, in the time of one of whom, Pontius Pilate, Jesus Christ was condemned to death and crucified outside Jerusalem.
He was the father of Herod the Great, whose family thus was Idumaean in origin.
At the corner stood the residence of the Babylonian governor, near the site upon which King Herod afterwards built his magnificent palace.
The Asmonean dynasty lasted a few years longer, but finally came to an end when Herod the Great, with the aid of the Romans, took possession of Jerusalem and became the first king of the Idumaean dynasty.
Herod again raised the city to the position of an important capital, restoring the fortifications, and rebuilding the Temple from its foundations.