Herod the Great

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Herod the Great
Basileus (King)

Reign 374 BCE
Titles Herod I
Born 74/73 BCE
Died 4 BCE (aged 70)
Place of death J ericho, J udea
Buried Possibly the Herodium
Predecessor Antigonus II Mattathias
Successor
Herod Archelaus,
Herod Antipas,
and Philip the Tetrarch
Wives
Doris
Mariamne I
Mariamne II
Malthace
Cleopatra of J erusalem
Issue
Antipater II
Prince Alexander
Prince Aristobulus IV
Princess Salampsio
Herod Philip I
Herod Antipas
Herod Archelaus
Olympias the Herodian
Prince Herod
Herod Philip II
Dynasty Herodian Dynasty
Father Antipater the Idumaean
Mother Cypros
Religious beliefs Second Temple Judaism
Herod (/hrd/; Hebrew: , Hordus, Greek: , Hrds; 74/73 BCE 4
BCE),
[1][2][3][4][5]
also known as Herod the Great and Herod I, was a Roman client king of
J udea.
[6][7][8]
He has been described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a
great many rabbis",
[9]
"the evil genius of the J udean nation",
[10]
"prepared to commit any
crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition"
[11]
and "the greatest builder in Jewish
history".
[9]
He is known for his colossal building projects throughout J udea, including his
expansion of the Second Temple in J erusalem (Herod's Temple), the construction of the
port at Caesarea Maritima, the fortress at Masada and Herodium. Vital details of his life are
recorded in the works of the 1st century CE RomanJ ewish historian J osephus.
Upon Herod's death, the Romans divided his kingdom among three of his sonsArchelaus
became ethnarch of the tetrarchy of J udea, Herod Antipas became tetrarch of Galilee and
Peraea, and Philip became tetrarch of territories east of the J ordan.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Reign in J udea
3 Architectural achievements
4 New Testament references
5 Death
6 Herod's tomb
7 Chronology
o 7.1 30s BCE
o 7.2 20s BCE
o 7.3 10s BCE
o 7.4 First decade BCE
8 Wives and children
9 Family trees
o 9.1 Ancestors
o 9.2 Marriages and descendants
10 Herod and the Great Revolt
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
Biography


Copper coin of Herod, bearing the legend " " ("Basiles Hrdou")
on the obverse
Herod was born around 74 BCE in Idumea, south of J udea.
[12][13]
He was the second son of
Antipater the Idumaean, a high-ranked official under ethnarch Hyrcanus II, and Cypros, a
Nabatean. Herod practiced J udaism, as many Edomites and Nabateans had been
commingled with the J ews and adopted their customs.
[14]
These "J udaized" Edomites were
not considered J ewish by the dominant Pharisaic tradition, so even though Herod may have
considered himself of the J ewish faith, he was not considered J ewish by the observant and
nationalist J ews of J udea.
[15]
A loyal supporter of Hyrcanus II, Antipater appointed Herod
governor of Galilee at 25, and his elder brother, Phasael, governor of J erusalem. He
enjoyed the backing of Rome but his brutality was condemned by the Sanhedrin.
[16]

Two years later Antigonus, Hyrcanus' nephew, took the throne from his uncle with the help
of the Parthians. Herod fled to Rome to plead with the Romans to restore him to power.
There he was elected "King of the J ews" by the Roman Senate.
[17]
J osephus puts this in the
year of the consulship of Calvinus and Pollio (40 BCE), but Appian places it in 39 BCE.
[13]

Herod went back to J udea to win his kingdom from Antigonus and at the same time he
married the teenage niece of Antigonus, Mariamne (known as Mariamne I), in an attempt to
secure a claim to the throne and gain some J ewish favor. However, Herod already had a
wife, Doris, and a three-year-old son, Antipater, and chose therefore to banish Doris and
her child.
Three years later, Herod and the Romans finally captured Jerusalem and executed
Antigonus. Herod took the role as sole ruler of J udea and the title of basileus (,
"king") for himself, ushering in the Herodian Dynasty and ending the Hasmonean Dynasty.
J osephus reports this as being in the year of the consulship of Agrippa and Gallus (37
BCE), but also says that it was exactly 27 years after Jerusalem fell to Pompey, which
would indicate 36 BCE. Cassius Dio also reports that in 37 "the Romans accomplished
nothing worthy of note" in the area.
[18]
According to J osephus, Herod ruled for 37 years, 34
of them after capturing J erusalem.


Model of Herod's Temple
As Herod's family had converted to J udaism, his religious commitment had come into
question by some elements of Jewish society.
[19]
When J ohn Hyrcanus conquered the
region of Idumaea (the Edom of the Hebrew Bible) in 140130 BCE, he required all
Idumaeans to obey J ewish law or to leave; most Idumaeans thus converted to J udaism,
which meant that they had to be circumcised.
[20]
While Herod publicly identified himself as
a J ew and was considered as such by some,
[21]
this religious identification was undermined
by the decadent lifestyle of the Herodians, which would have earned them the antipathy of
observant J ews.
[22]

Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne I.
[23]

Reign in Judea
Herods rule marked a new beginning in the history of J udea. J udea was under the rule of
the Hasmonean Dynasty from 140 BCE until 37 BCE. Herod overthrew Antigonus and
established the Herodian Dynasty. Herod ruled until his death in 4 BCE.
Although Herod was granted the title of king of J udea, like other vassal kings serving the
Roman Empire, he too knew that he must serve the interests of his Roman patrons. Not
long after he assumed control of J udea, Herod needed to show his worthiness as king of
J udea to the new emperor, Augustus (who was known as Octavian), after he showed
support for Augustus opponent Mark Antony. Herod was able to win the support of
Augustus and continue to rule his people as he saw fit. Despite the freedom afforded to
Herod in his reign over J udea, he was still a servant of the Roman Empire. This was shown
by the restrictions placed upon him in his dealings with other kingdoms, as well as his
support of Roman involvement within J udea.
[24]

Herods support from the Roman Empire played a major role in allowing him to maintain
his authority over J udea. There have been mixed interpretations concerning Herods
popularity during his reign. In The Jewish War, J osephus characterizes Herods rule
generally in favorable terms, and gives Herod the benefit of the doubt for the infamous
events that took place during his reign. However, in J osephuss later work, Jewish
Antiquities, J osephus emphasizes the tyrannical authority that many scholars have come to
associate with Herods reign.
[25]

Herods tyrannical authority has been demonstrated by many of his security measures
aimed at suppressing the contempt his people, especially J ews, had towards him. For
instance, it has been suggested that Herod used secret police to monitor and report the
feelings of the general populace towards him. In order to prevent people from expressing
their disdain for him, he sought to prohibit protests, and in severe cases, Herod had people
taken away by force.
[25]
Herod possessed a bodyguard composed of no less than 2,000
soldiers.
[26]
J osephus describes various units of Herod's personal guard taking part in
Herod's funeral, including the Doryphnoroi, and a Thracian, Celtic (probably Gallic) and
Germanic contingent.
[26]
While the term Doryphnoroi does not have an ethnic connotation,
the unit was probably composed of distinguished veteran soldiers and young men from the
most influential Jewish families.
[26]
Thracians had served in the Jewish armies since the
Hasmonean dynasty, while the Celtic contingent were former bodyguards of Cleopatra
given as a gift by Augustus to Herod following the Battle of Actium.
[26]
The Germanic
contingent was modeled upon Augustus's personal bodyguard, the Germani Corporis
Custodes, responsible for guarding the palace.
[26]

Herod was known to spend lavish sums on his various building projects and generous gifts
to other kingdoms, including Rome. The buildings that Herod built were very large projects
and very extravagant for his time. Herod was responsible for the construction of the Temple
Mount, a portion of which remains today as the Western Wall. In addition, Herod also built
the harbor at Caeserea. While Herod's zeal for building transformed J udea, his motives
were far from selfless. All these vast projects were aimed to gain himself support from the
J ews and help better his reputation as a leader.
[27]
However, in order to fund these expenses,
Herod utilized a Hasmonean taxation system that weighed heavily on the people of J udea.
Despite the burden of paying for Herods extravagant building projects and gifts, these
projects may have helped offset these burdens in that they provided many opportunities for
people to provide for themselves and their families.
[28]
In some instances, Herod took it
upon himself to provide for his people during times of need, such as during a severe famine
that occurred in 25 BCE.
[29]

In regards to religious policies, Herod experienced a mixed response from the J ewish
populace. Although Herod considered himself the King of J ews, he let it be known that he
also represented the non-J ews living in J udea. The pagan temples he built outside of J ewish
areas of the kingdom have shown this. Many J ews questioned whether he was truly J ewish
due to his Idumean background and the infamous murders he committed against members
of his family. However, despite his questionable faith, Herod often sought to respect
traditional J ewish observances in his public life. Some notable examples were the minting
of coins without human images to be used in J ewish areas. Another important example of
this was illustrated by his acknowledgment of the sanctity of the Second Temple as shown
by employing priests in the construction of the Temple.
[30]

Despite some of Herods attempts at conforming to traditional J ewish laws, there were
many instances where Herod was insensitive to these laws. As highlighted in J ewish
Antiquities, one of the major complaints from J ews towards Herod was exactly this. In
J erusalem, he introduced foreign forms of entertainment, and had a golden eagle erected at
the entrance of the Temple, suggesting he did not truly represent the interests of the J ewish
populace.
[28]
The taxes Herod put in place earned him a bad reputation as well. Because of
his constant concern with his reputation, Herod was always donating expensive gifts, and
ultimately, spending rash amounts of money that were not his to spend. Herods leadership
methods upset the Jews because they were forced to pay for his lavish spending.
[27]
The two
major J ewish sects during his reign, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, also showed
opposition to Herod. The Pharisees were angry with Herod because he disregarded many of
the demands they made for the construction of the Temple. Simultaneously, the Sadducees,
who were known for their priestly responsibilities in the Temple, were opposed to Herod
because he replaced the high priests with priests from Babylonia and Alexandria (in an
attempt to gain support from J ews in the diaspora).
[31]
Unfortunately for Herod, his efforts
did not satisfy his intentions. At the end of Herods reign, anger and dissatisfaction were
common feelings amongst the J ews. Heavy outbreaks of violence (such as riots) followed
Herods death, in multiple cities including J erusalem. All the grievances the J ews had
toward Herod's actions during his reign, such as heavy taxes and violating the rules, built
up during the years before he died. Because of the treatment the J ews were receiving, they
were ready to break free from Roman Rule. Herods leadership sparked such anger, that
eventually it became one of the causes driving the Great Revolt of 70 C.E.
[27]

Architectural achievements
Main article: Herodian architecture
Herod's most famous and ambitious project was the expansion of the Second Temple in
J erusalem. Recent findings however puts this in doubt.
[32]

In the eighteenth year of his reign (2019 BCE), Herod rebuilt the Temple on "a more
magnificent scale".
[33]
Although work on out-buildings and courts continued another eighty
years, the new Temple was finished in a year and a half. To comply with religious law,
Herod employed 1,000 priests as masons and carpenters in the rebuilding.
[33]
The finished
temple, which was destroyed in 70 CE, is sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple. Today,
only the four retaining walls remain standing, including the Western Wall. These walls
created a flat platform (the Temple Mount) upon which the Temple was then constructed.
Some of Herod's other achievements include the development of water supplies for
J erusalem, building fortresses such as Masada and Herodium, and founding new cities such
as Caesarea Maritima and the enclosures of Cave of the Patriarchs and Mamre in Hebron.
He and Cleopatra owned a monopoly over the extraction of asphalt from the Dead Sea,
which was used in shipbuilding. He leased copper mines on Cyprus from the Roman
emperor.
New Testament references
Main article: Massacre of the Innocents
Herod the Great appears in the Gospel according to Matthew (2:1-23), which describes an
event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. According to this account, after the birth of
J esus, "wise men from the East" visited Herod to inquire the whereabouts of "the one
having been born king of the J ews", because they had seen his star in the east and therefore
wanted to pay him homage. Herod, as King of the J ews, was alarmed at the prospect of a
usurper. Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where
the "Anointed One" (the Messiah, Greek: (ho christos)) was to be born. They
answered, in Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. Herod therefore sent the "wise men" to
Bethlehem, instructing them to search for the child and, after they had found him, to "report
to me, so that I too may go and worship him". However, after they had found J esus, the
Magi were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod. Similarly, J oseph was warned in
a dream that Herod intended to kill J esus, so he and his family fled to Egypt. When Herod
realized he had been outwitted by the Magi, he gave orders to kill all boys of the age of two
and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. J oseph and his family stayed in Egypt until
Herod's death, then moved to Nazareth in Galilee in order to avoid living under Herod's son
Archelaus.
Regarding the Massacre of the Innocents, although Herod was guilty of many brutal acts
including the killing of his wife and two of his sons, no other source from the period refers
to the massacre.
[34]
Since Bethlehem was a small village, the number of male children under
the age of two might not exceed 20, and this may be the reason for the lack of other sources
for this history.
[35]
Modern biographers of Herod tend to doubt the event took place.
[36]


Death


Coin of Herod the Great
Herod died in J ericho.
[12]
Since the work of Emil Schrer in 1896
[37]
most scholars have
agreed that Herod died at the end of March or early April in 4 BCE.
[38][39]

Evidence for the 4 BCE date is provided by the fact that Herod's sons, between whom his
kingdom was divided, dated their rule from 4 BCE,
[40]
and Archelaus apparently also
exercised royal authority during Herod's lifetime.
[41]
J osephus states that Philip the
Tetrarch's death took place after a 37-year reign, in the 20th year of Tiberius (34 CE).
[42]

J osephus tells us that Herod died after a lunar eclipse.
[43]
He gives an account of events
between this eclipse and his death, and between his death and Passover. A partial eclipse
[44]

took place on March 13, 4 BCE,
[13]
about 29 days before Passover, and this eclipse is
usually taken to be the one referred to by J osephus.
[39]
There were however three other,
total, eclipses around this time, and there are proponents of both 5 BCE
[38]
with two total
eclipses,
[45][46]
and 1 BCE.
[13]
Some conservative scholars have continued to support the
traditional date of 1 BCE.
[45][47][48][49][50]



Bronze coin of Herod the Great, minted at Samaria.
J osephus wrote that Herod's final illnesssometimes named "Herod's Evil"
[51]
was
excruciating.
[52]
Based on J osephus's descriptions, one medical expert has diagnosed
Herod's cause of death as chronic kidney disease complicated by Fournier's gangrene.
[53]

Similar symptoms attended the death of his grandson Agrippa I in 44 CE.
Modern scholars agree he suffered throughout his lifetime from depression and
paranoia.
[54][dead link]
J osephus stated that Herod was so concerned that no one would mourn
his death, that he commanded a large group of distinguished men to come to J ericho, and he
gave an order that they should be killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief
that he craved would take place.
[55]
Fortunately for them, Herod's son Archilaus and sister
Salome did not carry out this wish.
[56]

After Herod's death, his kingdom was divided among three of his sons by Augustus, as was
called for by Herod's will.
[57]
The Romans made Herod's son, Herod Archelaus, ethnarch of
J udea, Samaria, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BCE to 6 CE, referred to as the
tetrarchy of J udea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus
who then combined Samaria, J udea proper and Idumea into Iudaea province
[58]
under rule
of a prefect until age 41. Herod's other son Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee from
4 BCE39 CE and Philip became tetrarch of territories east of the J ordan.
Herod's tomb


Aerial photo of Herodium from the southwest
The location of Herod's tomb is documented by J osephus, who writes, "And the body was
carried two hundred furlongs, to Herodium, where he had given order to be buried."
[59]

J osephus provides more clues about Herod's tomb which he calls Herod's monuments:
So they threw down all the hedges and walls which the inhabitants had made about their
gardens and groves of trees, and cut down all the fruit trees that lay between them and the
wall of the city, and filled up all the hollow places and the chasms, and demolished the
rocky precipices with iron instruments; and thereby made all the place level from Scopus to
Herod's monuments, which adjoined to the pool called the Serpent's Pool.
[60]

Professor Ehud Netzer, an archaeologist from Hebrew University, read the writings of
J osephus and focused his search on the vicinity of the pool and its surroundings at the
Winter Palace of Herod in the J udean desert. An article of the New York Times states,
Lower Herodium consists of the remains of a large palace, a race track, service quarters,
and a monumental building whose function is still a mystery. Perhaps, says Ehud Netzer,
who excavated the site, it is Herod's mausoleum. Next to it is a pool, almost twice as large
as modern Olympic-size pools.
[61]

It took thirty-five years for Netzer to identify the exact location, but on May 7, 2007, an
Israeli team of archaeologists of Hebrew University led by Netzer, announced they had
discovered the tomb.
[62][63][64][65]
The site is located at the exact location given by J osephus,
atop of tunnels and water pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to Herodium,
12 kilometers (7.5 mi) south of J erusalem.
[66]
The tomb contained a broken sarcophagus but
no remains of a body.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Gush Etzion Regional Council intend to
recreate the tomb out of a light plastic material.
[67]

In October 2013, archaeologists J oseph Patrich and Benjamin Arubas challenged the
identification of the tomb as that of Herod.
[68]
According to Patrich and Arubas, the tomb is
too modest to be Herod's and has several unlikely features.
[68]
Roi Porat, who replaced
Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification.
[68]

Chronology
Further information: Herodian kingdom
30s BCE
3937 BCE War against Antigonus. After the conquest of Jerusalem and victory
over Antigonus, Mark Antony executes him.
36 BCE Herod makes his 17-year-old brother-in-law, Aristobulus III, high priest,
fearing that the Jews would appoint Aristobulus III as "King of the J ews" in his
place.
35 BCE Aristobulus III is drowned at a party on Herod's orders.
32 BCE The war against Nabatea begins, with victory one year later.
31 BCE J udea suffers a devastating earthquake. Octavian defeats Mark Antony, so
Herod switches allegiance to Octavian, later known as Augustus.
30 BCE Herod is shown great favor by Octavian, who at Rhodes confirms him as
King of J udea.
20s BCE
29 BCE J osephus writes that Herod had great passion and also great jealousy
concerning his wife, Mariamne I. She learns of Herod's plans to murder her, and
stops sleeping with him. Herod puts her on trial on a charge of adultery. His sister,
Salome I, was chief witness against her. Mariamne I's mother Alexandra made an
appearance and incriminated her own daughter. Historians say her mother was next
on Herod's list to be executed and did this only to save her own life. Mariamne was
executed, and Alexandra declared herself Queen, stating that Herod was mentally
unfit to serve. J osephus wrote that this was Alexandra's strategic mistake; Herod
executed her without trial.
28 BCE Herod executed his brother-in-law Kostobar
[69]
(husband of Salome,
father to Berenice) for conspiracy. Large festival in Jerusalem, as Herod had built a
theatre and an amphitheatre.
27 BCE An assassination attempt on Herod was foiled. To honor Augustus, Herod
rebuilt Samaria and renamed it Sebaste.
25 BCE Herod imported grain from Egypt and started an aid program to combat
the widespread hunger and disease that followed a massive drought. He also waives
a third of the taxes.
23 BCE Herod built a palace in J erusalem and the fortress Herodion (Herodium)
in J udea. He married his third wife, Mariamne II, the daughter of the priest Simon
Boethus; immediately Herodes deprived J esus the son of Phabet, of the high
priesthood, and conferred that dignity on Simon.
[70]

22 BCE Herod began construction on Caesarea Maritima and its harbor. The
Roman emperor Augustus granted him the regions Trachonitis, Batanaea, and
Auranitis to the northeast.
Circa 20 BCE Expansion started on the Temple Mount; Herod completely rebuilt
the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
10s BCE
Circa 18 BCE Herod traveled for the second time to Rome.
14 BCE Herod supported the J ews in Anatolia and Cyrene. Owing to the
prosperity in J udaea he waived a quarter of the taxes.
13 BCE Herod made his first-born son Antipater (his son by Doris) first heir in his
will.
12 BCE Herod suspected his sons from his marriage to Mariamne I, Alexander
and Aristobulus, of threatening his life. He took them to Aquileia to be tried.
Augustus reconciled the three. Herod supported the financially strapped Olympic
Games and ensured their future. Herod amended his will so that Alexander and
Aristobulus rose in the royal succession, but Antipater would be higher in the
succession.
Circa 10 BCE The newly expanded temple in J erusalem was inaugurated. War
against the Nabateans began.
First decade BCE


Tomb of Herod
9 BCE Caesarea Maritima was inaugurated. Owing to the course of the war against
the Nabateans, Herod fell into disgrace with Augustus. Herod again suspected
Alexander of plotting to kill him.
8 BCE Herod accused his sons Alexander and Aristobulus of high treason. Herod
reconciled with Augustus, who also gave him the permission to proceed legally
against his sons.
7 BCE The court hearing took place in Berytos (Beirut) before a Roman court. His
sons Alexander and Aristobulus were found guilty and executed. The succession
changed so that Antipater was the exclusive successor to the throne. In second place
the succession incorporated (Herod) Philip, his son by Mariamne II.
6 BCE Herod proceeded against the Pharisees.
5 BCE Antipater was brought before the court charged with the intended murder
of Herod. Herod, by now seriously ill, named his son (Herod) Antipas (from his
fourth marriage with Malthace) as his successor.
4 BCE Young disciples smashed the golden eagle over the main entrance of the
Temple of Jerusalem after the Pharisee teachers claimed it was an idolatrous Roman
symbol. Herod arrested them, brought them to court, and sentenced them. Augustus
approved the death penalty for Antipater. Herod then executed his son, and again
changed his will: Archelaus (from the marriage with Malthace) would rule as
ethnarch over the tetrachy of J udea, while Antipas (by Malthace) and Philip (from
the fifth marriage with Cleopatra of J erusalem) would rule as tetrarchs over Galilee
and Peraea (Transjordan), also over Gaulanitis (Golan), Trachonitis (Hebrew:
Argob), Batanaea (now Ard-el-Bathanyeh) and Panias. Salome I was also given a
small toparchy in the Gaza region. As Augustus did not confirm his will, no one
received the title of King; however, the three sons were granted rule of the stated
territories.
Wives and children
Herod's wives and children
Wife Children
Doris son Antipater II, executed 4 BCE
Mariamne I, daughter of Hasmonean
Alexandros,
executed 29 BCE
son Alexander, executed 7 BCE
son Aristobulus IV, executed 7 BCE
daughter Salampsio
daughter Cypros
Mariamne II, daughter of High-Priest Simon son Herod II
Malthace son Herod Archelaus - ethnarch
son Herod Antipas - tetrarch
daughter Olympias
Cleopatra of Jerusalem son Philip the Tetrarch
son Herod
Pallas son Phasael
Phaidra daughter Roxanne
Elpis daughter Salome
a cousin (name unknown)
no known children
a niece (name unknown) no known children
It is very probable that Herod had more children, especially with the last wives, and also
that he had more daughters, as female births at that time were often not recorded.
[71]






Family trees
Ancestors

Antipater
the Idumaean

Cypros
(Nabatean)





Phasael

Herod the Great

J oseph

Pheroras

Salome I


Marriages and descendants

Herod the Great

Doris





Antipater II
d. 4 BCE






Alexande
r

Alexandra







Herod
the
Great

Mariamn
e I
d. 29
BCE

Aristobulus
III
d. 35 BCE




Aristobu
lus
d. 7
BCE

Bereni
ce

Alexande
r
d. 7 BCE

Phasael II

Salampsio

Antipater(2)

Cypros

Mariam
ne III

Herod
Archel
aus

Herod V

Herodias

1. Herod II
2. Herod
Antipas

Herod
Agrippa I

Aristobul
us Minor






Herod
Agrip
pa II

Bereni
ce

Mariam
ne

Drusil
la






Simon Boethus
(High Priest)





Herod the Great

Mariamne II





Herod II




Herod the Great

Malthace
(Samaritan)


Aretas IV
king of Arabia



Phasaelis

Herod Antipas

Mariamne III

Herod Archelaus

Olympias




Herod the Great

Cleopatra
of J erusalem





Philip the Tetrarch
d. 34 CE



Notes.
Family Tree of Herod
Herod and the Great Revolt
Herod died in 4 BCE without leaving a designated successor, which caused J udea,
J erusalem, Galilee and Transjordan to break out into rebellion and riots. Many rebellious
leaders hoped to gain power. This outbreak of rebellion demonstrated the distress of the
people that resulted from poverty within the nation.
[72]
Herod's death left a nation in social
distress leading to an outbreak of riots due to the lack of a leader. During the first century
CE Roman administration utilized vassal kings. However, beginning in 6 CE the use of
vassal kings ended and prefects, or procurators, became common. Procurators were Roman
civil service men. There are accounts of brutal and corrupt Roman procurators, like Pontius
Pilate, who strained the lives of the J ews. Procurators caused many issues like stealing from
non-Romans and allowing chaos by releasing people from prison.
[73]
The use of procurators
became problematic due to the cultural barriers between the J ews and the Roman
authorities. The procurators were Roman and did not understand many of the struggles of
the Jewish people, for they did not live among the J ews. Therefore, procurators were not
effective in maintaining a peaceful environment in the lands that they ruled shown by
continued chaos. In about 66 CE the lack of leadership that caused chaos allowed talents to
be stolen from the Temple in order to pay for unpaid taxes. This led to revolt and war
among priestly revolutionaries and eventually violent revolutionaries.
[74]


See also
Cultural depictions of Herod the Great
Herod's Palace
Herodium
J udean date palm: Germination of 2000-year-old seed
References
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4. ^ Millar, Fergus; Schrer, Emil; Vermes, Geza. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus
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Jewstold themthat it was for their advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king; so
they all gave their votes for it. And when the senate was separated, Antony and Caesar went out,
with Herod between them; while the consul and the rest of the magistrates went before them, in order
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was theirs, and said that he who built it was a Jew, meaning King Herod. The Syrians confessed also
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[dead link]

55. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 17.6.174175.
56. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 17.8.193.
57. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 17.12.317319. Augustus "appointed Archelaus, not indeed to be the king of
the whole country, but ethnarch or one half of that which had been subject to Herod, and promised to
give him the royal dignity hereafter, if he governed his part virtuously. But as for the other half, he
divided it into two parts, and gave it to two other of Herod's sons, to Philip and to Herod Antipas,
that Herod Antipas who disputed with Archelaus for the whole kingdom. Now, to himit was that
Perea and Galilee paid their tribute, which amounted annually to two hundred talents, while Batanea
with Trachonitis, as well as Auranitis, with a certain part of what was called House of Lenodorus,
paid the tribute of one hundred talents to Philip; but Idumea, and Judea, and the country of Samaria,
paid tribute to Archilaus, but had now a fourth part of that tribute taken off by the order of Caesar,
who decreed themthat mitigation, because they did not join in this revolt with the rest of the
multitude."
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60. ^ Josephus, Wars, 5.3.2.
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70. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 15.9.3
71. ^ Josephus, Antiquities, 18.1.23.
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Further reading
Brandon, S. G. F. (1962). "Herod the Great: J udaea's Most Able but Most Hated
King". History Today 12: 234242.
Grant, Michael (1971). Herod the Great. New York: American Heritage Press.
ISBN 0-07-024073-6.
Gnther, Linda-Marie (hg.) Herodes und Jerusalem (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner
Verlag, 2009).
Gnther, Linda-Marie (hg.) Herodes und Rom (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag,
2007).
Jacobson, David M. and Nikos Kokkinos (ds). Herod and Augustus: Papers Held
at the Institute of Jewish Studies Conference, University College London, 2123
June 2005 (Leiden, Brill, 2009) (IJ S Studies in J udaica, 6).
Kokkinos, Nikos. The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse
(Sheffield: Sheffield Academic,1998).
Marshak, Adam Kolman (2006). "The Dated Coins of Herod the Great: Towards a
New Chronology". Journal for the Study of Judaism 37 (2): 212240.
doi:10.1163/157006306776564700.
Netzer, Ehud. The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder (Tbingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 2006).
Perowne, Stewart (1956). The Life and Times of Herod the Great. New York:
Abingdon Press.
Richardson, Peter. Herod the King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans
(Edinburgh: 1999).
Roller, Duane W. (1998). The Building Program of Herod the Great. Berkeley:
University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91935-8.
Sandmel, Samuel (1967). Herod: Profile of a Tyrant. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Schwentzel, Christian-Georges (2011). Hrode le Grand. Paris: Pygmalion.
Witztum, Eliezer. King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor. A Case Study in
Psychohistory and Psychobiography (Berlin and New York, Walter de Gruyter,
2006).
Zeitlin, Solomon (1963). "Herod: A Malevolent Maniac". Jewish Quarterly Review
54: 127. doi:10.2307/1453457.
Zeitlin, Solomon (19621978). The Rise and Fall of the Judean State. Philadelphia:
The Jewish Publication Society.
External links
"Herod the Great: The Kings Final J ourney", The Israel Museum, J erusalem,
February 13, 2013 October 5, 2013. Curators: Dudi Mevorach and Silvia
Rozenberg.
Herod and the Herodian Dynasty The J ewish History Resource Center - Project of
the Dinur Center for Research in J ewish History, The Hebrew University of
J erusalem
"Herod I" in the Jewish Encyclopedia.