Judea was a territory within the land of Israel whose boundaries were variously defined at different stages of Bible history, although Jerusalem was always within it. Known as the kingdom of "Judah" before the Babylonian exile, the territory became known as Judea after the return, and included most of the area west of the Jordan River It expanded briefly during the dominance of the Maccabees, however by the time of Christ, the Romans designated Judea as the southernmost division of "Palestine," the other two being Samaria and Galilee. Under Roman rule, Judea was included within the province of Syria, and was governed by a procurator - Pontius Pilate being the most well-known.