When under Roman rule, Israel was considered a client kingdom; a king was appointed, but he answered to Caesar.
Herod the Great was called King, but he couldn’t decide who should succeed him. He ended up dividing the kingdom among three of his sons–none of which were too fond of that idea. They had to travel to Rome for it to be approved by Caesar, where each argued that he ought to get sole control of the kingdom.
Caesar said no. It would be divided; and further, none of them would get to be called king. They were instead called tetrarch and ethnarch. So Herod Antipas, who we see in the Gospels, was the tetrarch of Galilee.
There’s some debate as to why Herod Antipas became involved in the trial, since Jesus was not in Herod’s province for the alleged crimes (though Galilee was both’s home province). It’s generally considered to have been a courtesy (or attempt to pass the buck) on Pilate’s part, to send him to Herod.
Pilate, generally referred to as the governor of Judea in the Bible, was technically the prefect appointed over the province. (Antipas’ brother was declared incompetent, and he was stripped of his title. Rule of Judea was then given to these prefects.)
I avoid using the term “prefect” with Pilate because Cleopas was prefect of the military installation, and I didn’t want it to be confusing.
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