Despite its small size and inauspicious geography, Judea played a significant role in the Augustan Empire. This, quite apart from the greater limelight still that would be cast upon it as a result of the eventual “triumph” of Christianity both in Roman politics and European culture. Yet long before Judea became synonymous with Jesus or “Holy Land” (Wilken, 1992, 21-45), it had become Augustus' gateway to the East, thanks in large measure to the political fortunes of Herod. Indeed, Augustus' rise to imperial power was very much tied to Herod's career at a number of key points. As client to Rome, and under the patronage of Antony and then Octavian, Herod greatly expanded the Judean kingdom from 40 to 4 BCE. Along the way he was associated with some of the most noted figures of his day, including Pompey, Caesar, Cleopatra, Agrippa, Asinius and Vedius Pollio, and more. On his death, his lands were divided among his surviving sons; however, in 6 CE Judea came under direct Roman provincial administration. This change would also have profound effects on the social and political climate of Judea - and Rome itself - under Augustus' successors and thus set the stage for the emergence of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.