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The immediate consequence for the Roman province of Syria was a Parthian invasion, with two successive sieges of Antioch in 51 BCE and then in the winter of 51/50 BCE C. Cassius Longinus, one of the survivors of Carrhae, managed to defeat the Parthians (the victory of Antigonea on 7 October 51 BCE), although the enemy did not leave the region. Thanks to the energy of the new governor of Syria, M. Porcius Bibulus, the Parthians were pushed out and Syria was once again Roman (end of 50 BCE).
The Near East during the Civil War
During this time, the organization of Judaea continued to preoccupy the Romans. Pompey had found the country to be deeply divided between the legitimate heir of Alexander Jannaeus (102–76 BCE), Hyrcanus II, who was king and high priest; his younger brother Aristobulus II who contested his brother’s kingly title; and a part of the Jews who wanted neither of them. After the capture of Jerusalem and the Temple in 63 BCE, held by Aristobulus II, Pompey and his successors tried several approaches: Pompey first supported Hyrcanus as sole leader after having significantly reduced the reach of Hyrcanus’s kingdom (almost all the Greek cities along the coast and in Transjordan were taken from the king), then Gabinius divided the country into five autonomous districts, leaving Hyrcanus with only the great pontificate. No real end to the unrest was achieved, but it clearly appeared that the true leader of Judaea from then on was Hyrcanus’s mentor Antipater from Idumaea, assisted by his two sons Phasael and Herod; all three men had become loyal allies of Rome.