The limits of this region are nowhere exactly defined, but it seems to have included the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon range, and to have extended south and southeast of Damascus as far as the borders of Galilaea, Batanaea, and Trachonitis.
[2] Immediately after the death of Tiberius (37 AD), Caligula made over to Herod Agrippa, at that time a prisoner in Rome, the tetrarchy of Philip and the tetrarchy of Lysanias, while Claudius, upon his accession (41), not only confirmed the liberality of his predecessor towards Herod Agrippa, but added all that portion of Judaea and Samaria which had belonged to the kingdom of his grandfather Herod the Great, together (says Josephus) with Abila, which had appertained to Lysanias, and the adjoining region of Libanus.
Lastly, in 53, Claudius granted to Herod Agrippa II the tetrarchy of Philip with Batanaea and Trachonitis and Abila (Joseph.
§ 1) he states that Abila Lysaniou was added by Claudius to the former dominions of Agrippa, but, in reality, these expressions must be explained as referring to the division of Abilene which took place on the death of Herod the Great.
Abila is mentioned among the places captured by Placidus, one of Vespasian's generals, in 69 or 70 (Joseph.
[2] In chapter 3 of the Gospel of Luke, the timeframe when John the Baptist began to preach his baptism of repentance in the wilderness is indicated by noting which rulers were ruling in certain areas:[3]